1
as in to unload
to empty or rid of cargo
disburdened the oil tanker before it could leak any more oil
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to relieve
to set (a person or thing) free of something that encumbers
the cinema was a place where we could disburden ourselves of our cares, if only for a couple of hours
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disburden
Nelson sometimes counsels musicians to feel, not count — to disburden themselves of metronomic ideas about tempo and go with the flow.
—
Jody Rosen, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2022
This is again a reform that would very much disburden the poor, the crime being so closely linked to their particular distress.
—Marilynne Robinson, Harper’s Magazine , 20 July 2022
Jody Rosen, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2022
This is again a reform that would very much disburden the poor, the crime being so closely linked to their particular distress.
—Marilynne Robinson, Harper’s Magazine , 20 July 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disburden
Verb
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The mass of public officials and volunteers unloaded and passed about 1,200 turkeys into the food bank Thursday morning in a lively assembly line.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
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Carol Burnett has unloaded a massive haul of her most coveted awards, handing them off to her alma mater in conjunction with an endowment to support aspiring musical theater performers.—
Karu F Daniels,
Mercury News,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Earlier this year the Department of Transportation offered bonuses to retirement aged controllers to stay on the job longer to help relieve the existing shortage, but the shutdown seems to be working against that effort.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
11 Nov. 2025
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This past weekend, the FAA reported staffing shortages at dozens of facilities, prompting the agency to slow air traffic to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who did show up to work.—
Joel Rose,
NPR,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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If confirmed by future research, the approach could provide a powerful new weapon to fight heart disease, the nation's leading killer, freeing people from the need to take statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs every day.—
NPR,
NPR,
8 Nov. 2025
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No-kill is about giving every pet in a shelter a fair chance and proving that with the right policies and practices in place, managing animal shelters doesn’t require killing dogs and cats simply to free up space.—
Scott Giacoppo,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disburden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disburden. Accessed 21 Nov. 2025.
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