burden

A heavy load.

I know that this was Life,—the track ⁠Whereon with equal feet we fared; ⁠And then, as now, the day prepared The daily burden for the back.

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.

c. 1710-1730, Jonathan Swift, The Dean's Complaint Translated and Answered 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

"[…] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes."

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

To encumber with a literal or figurative burden.

to burden a nation with taxes

My burdened heart would break.

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

He was beginning to forget his burdening, despairing mood of a short while ago.

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

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

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.

BURDEN in some musical instruments, the Drone or Bass, and the pipe or string that plays it

Theme, core idea.

the burden of the argument