burden

bear the burden (of something)

To endure something distressing, painful, stressful, or emotionally or physically taxing, especially for the sake of others. Our mother bore the burden of this farm for 53 years until the day she died. My partner quit his job to stay home with the baby, so I have to bear the burden of earning enough to pay the mortgage.
See also: bear, burden

beast of burden

A domesticated animal used by humans to carry or pull heavy loads. Camels have been used by people as beasts of burden for thousands of years because of their size, strength, and ability to travel long distances with minimal need for food and water.
See also: beast, burden, of

burden (someone) with (something)

To share something distressing or troublesome with another person. I'm sorry to burden you with my problems, but I could really use some advice here. Don't burden her with that information now—wait until she's done with her exams.
See also: burden

burden of proof

The requirement and obligation of providing sound, reasonable evidence supporting a charge or allegation. Originating and used primarily in law, it can be applied more broadly to any situation in which a contentious dispute arises. In court, the burden of proof always rests on the plaintiffs and the prosecutors. The burden of proof is on you to show that the computer was broken before you bought it.
See also: burden, of, proof

the white man's burden

offensive The belief of white European colonizers that they had a moral obligation to enforce their culture, religion, and ethics on the indigenous populations they enslaved or conquered. It's clear that the minister, a dinosaur in his belief, still holds onto the notion of the white man's burden when the topic of African and Middle Eastern refugees comes up.
See also: burden, white
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

burden someone or something with someone or something

to bother or weigh down someone or something with someone or something. Please don't burden us with the bad news at this time. I don't want to burden the school with a troublesome child.
See also: burden

burden someone with something

to give unpleasant information to someone; to give someone some bad news. I hate to burden you with this, but your cat ran away. I wish I had not been burdened with all the facts.
See also: burden
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

burden of proof

Obligation of proving a disputed charge or allegation. For example, Are you sure you mailed the tax return on time? The burden of proof's on you. A legal term dating from the late 1500s, it has also been used more loosely in recent times.
See also: burden, of, proof
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the white man's burden

the task, believed by white colonizers to be incumbent upon them, of imposing Western civilization on the black inhabitants of European colonies. dated
The white man's burden comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem of that title ( 1899 ), originally referring specifically to the United States' role in the Philippines.
See also: burden, white
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

burden of proof, the

The obligation to support a contention by presenting adequate evidence. The term is a translation of the Latin onus probandi and was used in English courts of law from the late sixteenth century on. Transferred to any situation in which there was an obligation to prove something, it became a cliché in the nineteenth century. Attorney-novelist Scott Turow used it as the title for a popular novel involving a suicide and lawsuit (1990).
See also: burden, of
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • bear the burden (of something)
  • after a storm comes a calm
  • after the storm comes a calm
  • calm
  • put (one) through it
  • put somebody through it
  • burden (someone) with (something)
  • burden with
  • unburden (oneself) to (someone)
  • unburden oneself to
References in periodicals archive
For assessing the moderating role of perceived social support with burden of care and suicidal ideation, the Process Procedure version 319 was run on SPSS 21.
Burden of care and Suicidal Ideation among Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perceived Social Support as a Moderator
On the other hand, 34% stated that health care costs were somewhat of a financial burden, while 11% perceived such costs as a heavy financial burden on the household budget.
EUROPE: Financial burden of healthcare felt more acutely in Cyprus
Speaking about the economic difficulties faced by the country, he said: "We were trying for many days to get rid of this burden placed on us of the debt.
No corrupt person will get any NRO, says Imran Khan
Nationwide, the growth in renter incomes has outpaced rent growth for the past few years, causing a decrease in the share of cost burdened renters.
Report: Poor renters move to cheapest places
The India State-level Disease Burden Initiative, a joint initiative between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India along with experts and stakeholders associated with over 100 Indian institutions, released the first comprehensive set of state-level disease burden, risk factors estimates and trends for each state in India to inform health planning to reduce health inequalities amongst states in India.
Comprehensive estimates, trends of disease burden, risk factor in India released
Results of 0-20 are considered little or no burden, 21-40 are considered mild to moderate burden, 41-60 are considered moderate to severe burden, and 61-88 are considered severe burden.
Caregiver burden in caregivers of elderly registered in Armed Forces Hospital and King Fahad Military Medical Complex Home Care Services in Dhahran
On the basis of these findings, family burden has been assessed on six domains.
Caregiver Burden in Alcohol Dependence Syndrome
Independent samples T test and one-way analysis of variance test were used to assess the caregiver burden scores among different demographic groups.
Caregiver burden of rheumatoid arthritis patients with self-care deficit in China: a cross-sectional study
Avoidance coping was strongly associated with burden, distress and high expressed emotion.
Coping with spousal burden in chronic schizophrenia: a gender based analysis
The preamble says the purpose for this conclusive and unilateral rule is threefold: (1) to provide administrable rules consistent with the statute, (2) to reduce the burden on both the IRS and taxpayers in evaluating the benefits-and-burdens-of-ownership factors, and (3) to prevent more than one taxpayer from being allowed the deduction, as required under Sec.
Ramifications of removing the sec. 199 benefits-and-burdens test
Some claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act present such zero-sum circumstances in that easing the claimant's religious burden increases someone else's burden.
Hobby Lobby and the zero-sum game
Even though household credit has risen, the debt burden has not.
Housenoias and lonsurners household credit shifts higher; debt burden continues to decline
Theresa Burden started the private pa to connect principals with assistants.
The Evolved Private PA by Theresa Burden Resources
Chief executive Jeremy Burden said: "Over the past few years Burdens has increased it's turnover and logistics capabilities by 100 per cent, a major achievement during what is one of the most severe recessions in the industry.
pounds 81m loan facility agreed by employee-owned firm
James Burden, aged 24, of no fixed abode, launched drunken attacks on people as they walked home from a night out in Leamington.
THUG IS LOCKED UP FOR 'VICIOUS' ATTACK ON TRIO; Man gets six years after punching random strangers