BEAST OF BURDEN • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Beast of burden

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/bist əv bˈərdən/ Listen

noun

Burden n. (Written also burthen)

1.

That which is borne or carried; a load. "Plants with goodly burden bowing."

2.

That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive. "Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, To all my friends a burden grown."

3.

The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden.

4.

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

5.

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

6.

A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds.

7.

A birth. (Obs. & R.)

Beast of burden, an animal employed in carrying burdens.

Burden of proof (Law), the duty of proving a particular position in a court of law, a failure in the performance of which duty calls for judgment against the party on whom the duty is imposed.

Synonyms: Burden, Load. A burden is, in the literal sense, a weight to be borne; a load is something laid upon us to be carried. Hence, when used figuratively, there is usually a difference between the two words. Our burdens may be of such a nature that we feel bound to bear them cheerfully or without complaint. They may arise from the nature of our situation; they may be allotments of Providence; they may be the consequences of our errors. What is upon us, as a load, we commonly carry with greater reluctance or sense of oppression. Men often find the charge of their own families to be a burden; but if to this be added a load of care for others, the pressure is usually serve and irksome.

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Etymology of 'Beast of burden'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Beast of burden" Quotes from Famous Books

... seasons. How knowest thou these things? Not as I know them, who have seen—nay, but as a king knows conquering; it's in thy blood! Is a bundle of sugar-cane tribute enough for thee, Kumiria? Shall purple trappings please thee? Shall some fat rajah of the plains make a beast of burden of thee? Answer, lord of ...

— O Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919 • Various

... that the Romans sold their slaves to the slave merchants. I knew that slavery was horrible, and I approved of a mother's killing her children sooner than have them live a captive's life. I knew that a slave became a beast of burden. While the "horse-dealer" was speaking, I drew my hand across my forehead to make sure that it was really I, Guilhern, the son of Joel the brenn of the tribe of Karnak, a son of that free and haughty race, whom they ...

— The Brass Bell - or, The Chariot of Death • Eugene Sue

... become a jaded beast of burden, Agnes, if always full laden with the present, and the actually existent. Happily, like Pegasus, it has broad and strong pinions—can rise free from the prisoner's cell and the rich man's dainty palace. Free! free! How the heart swells, ...

— The Good Time Coming • T. S. Arthur

... deities. But how is it that figures 687-689 [same as our plate LXVIII, 42] serve as a seat for the Chac? Now Chac [he refers to the long-nose god] is not really a god of water, but of rain; the rain-producing storm cloud is his vehicle; the storm bird is his beast of burden on ...

— Day Symbols of the Maya Year • Cyrus Thomas

... build and manufacture; the ruling and propertied classes soon perceive that a day of rest is absolutely requisite. Without it the laborer wears out too rapidly—like the horse, the ox, or any other beast of burden. The day is therefore decreed for economic reasons. It is only placed under the sanction of religion because, in a certain stage of human development, there is no other sanction available. Every change in social organisation has then to be enforced as an edict of the gods. This is carried ...

— Flowers of Freethought - (Second Series) • George W. Foote

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