1. (

• burden ,
• load ,
• encumbrance ,
• incumbrance ,
• onus

) an onerous or difficult concern; "the burden of responsibility"; "that's a load off my mind" ;

2. (

• load ,
• loading ,
• burden ,

) weight to be borne or conveyed ;

3. (

• effect ,
• essence ,
• burden ,
• core ,
• gist

) the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work ;

4. (

• burden

) the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse ;

1. (

• burden ,
• burthen ,
• weight ,
• weight_down

) weight down with a load ;

2. (

• charge ,
• saddle ,
• burden

) impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; "He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend" ;