overburden

[ verb oh-ver-bur-dn; noun oh-ver-bur-dn ]

See synonyms for overburden on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to load with too great a burden; overload: He was overburdened with cares.

noun

an excessive burden.
Also called burden, capping. Mining. waste earth and rock covering a mineral deposit.

Origin of overburden

First recorded in 1570–80; over- + burden¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use overburden in a sentence

They point out that the infrastructure and amenities in their impoverished neighborhoods are already overburdened.
Israel's Most Liberal City Introduces Racially Segregated Kindergartens | Lisa Goldman | August 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The negotiating process is already overburdened with difficult emotional issues.
You Don't Have to Live Like a Refugee | Hussein Ibish | September 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Then, as now, it proved impossible to arrive at sane debt restructurings for overburdened sovereigns.
Niall Ferguson: Great Britain Saves Itself by Rejecting the EU | Niall Ferguson | December 10, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
She may have an overburdened heart, but part of that load surely is her own ambition.
Elizabeth Edwards the Hypocrite | Kathleen Parker | May 6, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Then it was slowly borne in upon her that that was no dream-voice, no trick of her overburdened mind.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini

Enid's true, overburdened heart was only too ready to respond to his fervent appeal.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux
Consequently, instead of mounting one of the already overburdened beasts, I crossed the two fords of the Salmon River by wading.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail | Arthur R. Thompson
Our Embassy had been so overburdened with work that Mrs. Gerard was there all day long helping her husband.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia Austrian
The exigencies of the form overburdened the composer and crushed all individuality out of him.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician | Frederick Niecks

British Dictionary definitions for overburden

overburden

verb(ˌəʊvəˈbɜːdən)

(tr) to load with excessive weight, work, etc

noun(ˈəʊvəˌbɜːdən)

an excessive burden or load
geology the sedimentary rock material that covers coal seams, mineral veins, etc

Derived forms of overburden

overburdensome, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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