overburden
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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an excessive burden.
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Also called burden, capping. Mining. waste earth and rock covering a mineral deposit.
verb
noun
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an excessive burden or load
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geology the sedimentary rock material that covers coal seams, mineral veins, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overburdensimple
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overburdenssimple
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have overburdenedperfect
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has overburdenedperfect
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am overburdeningprogressive
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are overburdeningprogressive
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is overburdeningprogressive
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have been overburdeningperfect progressive
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has been overburdeningperfect progressive
Past
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overburdenedsimple
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had overburdenedperfect
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was overburdeningprogressive
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were overburdeningprogressive
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had been overburdeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overburden
Explanation
When you give someone too much to carry, you overburden them. Don't overburden yourself with too much gear in your hiking backpack, or you'll never make it up the mountain! You can literally overburden someone, which you do whenever you ask them to hold too much weight: "Let me carry some of those books. I don't want you to overburden yourself" There's also a figurative way to overburden another person, by pressuring them or making them work too hard: "If the budget cuts go through and school aides are laid off, it will overburden teachers."
Vocabulary lists containing overburden
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the end, some 125 took the offer, threatening to overburden a corps already struggling to inspect even a sliver of the nation’s 130,000 licensed firearms dealers.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
But critics counter that a potential 50% jump in property-tax bills, even phased in over five years as envisioned, would overburden residents already feeling higher prices for groceries, gas and other essentials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
Mr Forsyth stressed that any law would need to work in tandem with medical professionals so as not to overburden them.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2023
The bankruptcy trustee alleged the producers and Lemonis worked to divide the business owners and overburden the company with debt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2023
“We cannot overburden our pack animals; the Princess Eilonwy and Gurgi will share our own horses.”
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
He occasionally overburdens the reader with minutiae of political and organizational rivalries and is more workman than stylist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
This simultaneously overburdens and disempowers the lower courts.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2025
That means tools such as vaccines will be prioritized; but in countries where dengue is endemic, the rainy season completely overburdens their health systems and what they desperately need are treatments, said Crockett.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 4, 2023
Laura Cantrell is an emphatic single-syllable rhymer, a classic-minded country singer who never overburdens a song: Her last album was a collection of Kitty Wells covers, and that’s about as contemporary as her tastes run.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2014
The general absence of a distinct aim sharpens the faculties in the keen pursuit of details, and lends an importance to trifles which overburdens at every turn the responsibility borne by the nerves.
From Don Orsino by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
The industry went through a difficult time in the 2010s because of overburdened balance sheets, and now many companies are staying lean to be flexible for the future.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
He cited concerns from constituents about overburdened social services in the area, according to local radio coverage of the meeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
Drug companies launched these discount sites for uninsured patients years ago, hoping to foster the impression that they cared about patients overburdened by their list prices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
People’s lives are overburdened enough or they simply find the news too upsetting.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2025
He ran his business from the overburdened back of a freakishly oversized Standardbred horse wearing a superwide saddle.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
As an advocate for better food in schools and hospitals, she sees her love of “cheats” as a tool to help institutions create better meals without overburdening their staff.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2024
The coalition warned, however, that doing so could “further marginalize high-risk populations and divert resources from struggling facilities while simultaneously overburdening higher-level facilities.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
While retailers and shop workers have welcomed the anticipated proposals, a civil liberties group has raised concerns about criminalising people struggling to make ends meet and overburdening the prison system.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2024
Its creators wanted to avoid overburdening the Weather Service’s computing system, so it does not include as many variables as a private company’s proprietary one might, he said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
This time of ease and rest must not be disturbed on our part by overburdening the stomach.
From Popular Books on Natural Science For Practical Use in Every Household, for Readers of All Classes by Bernstein, Aaron David
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
