over·bur·den
ˌō-vər-ˈbər-dᵊn 
overburdened; overburdening; overburdens
: to place an excessive burden on
over·bur·den
ˈō-vər-ˌbər-dᵊn
: material overlying a deposit of useful geologic materials or bedrock
Synonyms
Examples of overburden in a Sentence
Verb
She overburdened me with work.
Why overburden yourself when people are offering to help?
Recent Examples on the Web
Caitlin Babcock, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Apr. 2024
Biden’s plan earned broad support from Democrats across the country who argued people are overburdened by student loan debt.
—Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 28 Mar. 2024
The department also blamed the COVID-19 pandemic, which overburdened health departments nationwide with employees now asked to enforce new safety protocols.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2024
But she was overburdened with cases, and Ms. Jacobs was insistent.
—Tim Arango, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024
Government agencies are overburdening many projects.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
The personnel shortage overburdens Cal-OSHA employees with an unreasonably heavy workload, according to the several current and former staffers who spoke with The Bee.
—Maya Miller, Sacramento Bee, 22 Feb. 2024
By asking these questions, a company might find consultants are overburdened with administrative tasks, for instance, and the solution may be to implement project management software to streamline admin work and boost billable hours.
—Jeremy Bradley-Silverio Donato, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
It is overburdened by wars in Ukraine and Gaza, threats from Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq, a migrant crisis on the U.S. southern border, shortfalls in weapons stocks, and threats from China and North Korea.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 12 Jan. 2024
Wendy Dean, STAT, 7 June 2023
Approaches to reduce firearm violence should also be coupled with an investment in addressing social and economic factors such as concentrated poverty and segregation that contribute to an overburden of violence in under-resourced communities.
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 May 2022
This is partly due to an overburden of industry in minority neighborhoods.
—Safia Samee Ali, NBC News, 18 Feb. 2022
The working assumption was that everything would soon be crushed by the overburden of snow anyway.
—Jon Gertner, WIRED, 12 June 2019
Keep in mind, the whole purpose of this was to relieve students of the overburden of exams and let teachers teach.
—Kristen M. Clark, miamiherald, 3 May 2017
Verb
But the Democratic state legislator says too many mothers are overburdened by high child care costs.
—Caitlin Babcock, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Apr. 2024
Biden’s plan earned broad support from Democrats across the country who argued people are overburdened by student loan debt.
—Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 28 Mar. 2024
The department also blamed the COVID-19 pandemic, which overburdened health departments nationwide with employees now asked to enforce new safety protocols.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2024
But she was overburdened with cases, and Ms. Jacobs was insistent.
—Tim Arango, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024
Government agencies are overburdening many projects.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
The personnel shortage overburdens Cal-OSHA employees with an unreasonably heavy workload, according to the several current and former staffers who spoke with The Bee.
—Maya Miller, Sacramento Bee, 22 Feb. 2024
By asking these questions, a company might find consultants are overburdened with administrative tasks, for instance, and the solution may be to implement project management software to streamline admin work and boost billable hours.
—Jeremy Bradley-Silverio Donato, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
It is overburdened by wars in Ukraine and Gaza, threats from Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq, a migrant crisis on the U.S. southern border, shortfalls in weapons stocks, and threats from China and North Korea.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 12 Jan. 2024
Noun
The demand-resource mismatches of burnout, the operational drivers, are substantial and must be addressed: clumsy electronic medical records, understaffing, and administrative overburden, among others.
—Wendy Dean, STAT, 7 June 2023
Approaches to reduce firearm violence should also be coupled with an investment in addressing social and economic factors such as concentrated poverty and segregation that contribute to an overburden of violence in under-resourced communities.
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 May 2022
This is partly due to an overburden of industry in minority neighborhoods.
—Safia Samee Ali, NBC News, 18 Feb. 2022
The working assumption was that everything would soon be crushed by the overburden of snow anyway.
—Jon Gertner, WIRED, 12 June 2019
Keep in mind, the whole purpose of this was to relieve students of the overburden of exams and let teachers teach.
—Kristen M. Clark, miamiherald, 3 May 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overburden.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near overburden
Cite this Entry
“Overburden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overburden. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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