Burden vs Yoke - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between burden and yoke

is that burden is a heavy load while yoke is a bar or frame of wood by which two oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together.

As verbs the difference between burden and yoke

is that burden is to encumber with a burden (in any of the noun senses of the word) while yoke is to link or to join.

burden

English

(wikipedia burden)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) burden, birden, burthen, birthen, byrthen, from (etyl) byrden, .

Alternative forms

* burthen (archaic)

Noun

(en noun)

A heavy load.

* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4

There were four or five men in the vault already, and I could hear more coming down the passage, and guessed from their heavy footsteps that they were carrying burdens .

A responsibility, onus.

A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.

* Jonathan Swift

Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, / To all my friends a burden grown.

The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.

a ship of a hundred tons burden

(mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.

(metalworking) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.

(Raymond)

A fixed quantity of certain commodities.

A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.

(obsolete, rare) A birth.

That bore thee at a burden two fair sons

Verb

(en verb)

To encumber with a burden (in any of the noun senses of the word ).

to burden a nation with taxes

* Bible, 2 Corinthians viii. 13

I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened .

* Shakespeare

My burdened heart would break.

To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).

* Coleridge

It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell.

Derived terms

* burdensome * beast of burden

Etymology 2

From (etyl) bordon. See bourdon.

Noun

(en noun)

(music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.

* 1610 , , act 1 scene 2

[...] Foot it featly here and there; / And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.

* 1846 ,

As commonly used, the refrain, or burden , not only is limited to lyric verse, but depends for its impression upon the force of monotone - both in sound and thought.

The drone of a bagpipe.

(Ruddiman)

(obsolete) Theme, core idea.

Anagrams

yoke

English

Noun

(en noun)

A bar or frame of wood by which two oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together.

* Alexander Pope

A yearling bullock to thy name shall smoke, / Untamed, unconscious of the galling yoke .

A pair (of animals, especially oxen).

* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Luke XIV:

And another sayd: I have bought fyve yooke of oxen, and I must goo to prove them, I praye the have me excused.

A frame made to fit the neck and shoulders of a person, used for carrying a pair of buckets, etc., one at each end of the frame.

A frame worn on the neck of an animal, such as a cow, pig, or goose, to prevent passage through a fence.

(figuratively) A burden; something which represses or restrains a person.

A frame or convex piece by which a bell is hung for ringing it.

The part of a shirt that stretches over the shoulders, usually made out of a doubled piece of fabric. Or, a pair of fabric panels on trousers (especially jeans) or a skirt, across the back of the garment below the waistband.

* 1913 ,

[...] this city child was dressed in what was then called the "Kate Greenaway" manner, and her red cashmere frock, gathered full from the yoke , came almost to the floor.

(bodybuilding) Well-developed muscles of the neck and shoulders.

* 2010 , Jim Wendler, "Build an NFL Neck", Men's Fitness (April), page 73.

Nothing says you're a dedicated lifter and true athlete more than a massive yoke —that is, the muscles of the neck, traps, and rear delts.

(aviation) The column-mounted of an aircraft.

(electronics) The electro-magnetic coil that deflects the electron beam in a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube).

(nautical) A fitting placed across the head of the rudder with a line attached at each end by which a boat may be steered. In modern use it is primarily found in sailing canoes and kayaks.

(agriculture, dated, uncommon) An alternative name for a cowpoke.

(glassblowing) A Y-shaped stand used to support a blowpipe or punty while reheating in the glory hole.

(engineering) A bent crosspiece connecting two other parts.

A tie securing two timbers together, not used for part of a regular truss, but serving a temporary purpose, as to provide against unusual strain.

(dressmaking) A band shaped to fit the shoulders or the hips, and joined to the upper full edge of the waist or the skirt.

The amount of land ploughed in a day by a pair of oxen.

(Gardner)

A portion of the working day.

to work two yokes , i.e. to work both morning and afternoon

(Halliwell)

(informal, Ireland) A miscellaneous object; a gadget.

Synonyms

* (aviation) control wheel

Derived terms

* pass under the yoke * under the yoke

Verb

(yok)

To link or to join.

Muriel and Benjamin yoked themselves into an old governess-cart and did their share.

To unite, to connect.

* Bible, 2 Corinthians vi. 14

Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers.

To enslave; to bring into bondage; to restrain; to confine.

* Milton

Then were they yoked with garrisons.

* Hudibras

The words and promises that yoke / The conqueror are quickly broke.

Derived terms

* yoke together