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
*
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vice English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl), from (etyl) .
Noun
( en noun)
A bad habit.
- Smoking is a vice , not a virtue.
(legal) Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, or drugs.
A defect in the temper or behaviour of a horse, such as to make the animal dangerous, to injure its health, or to diminish its usefulness.
* From the case of Scholefield v. Robb (1839).
Antonyms
* (bad habit) virtue
Derived terms
* vice squad
Related terms
* vicious
* vitiate
See also
* habit
Etymology 2
From (etyl) ; akin to English withy.
Alternative forms
* vise (US)
Noun
( en noun)
A mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping or holding (also spelled vise).
A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
(obsolete) A grip or grasp.
* 1597 , , II. I. 22:
- Fang. An I but fist him once; an a’ come but within my vice ,–
Verb
( vic)
To hold or squeeze with a vice, or as if with a vice.
* 1610 , , I. ii. 416:
- Camillo. As he had seen’t, or been an instrument / To vice you to't, that you have touched his queen / Forbiddenly
* De Quincey
- The coachman's hand was viced between his upper and lower thigh.
Etymology 3
From (etyl) , ablative form of vicis.
Adjective
vice (no comparative or superlative)
in place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank
- vice president
- vice admiral
Derived terms
* vice admiral
* vice governor
* vice mayor
* vice president
Preposition
( head)
instead of, in place of
- A. B. was appointed postmaster vice C. D. resigned.
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