1
as in unloading
to empty or rid of cargo
the crew was frantically unburdening the ship in an attempt to save it
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in relieving
to set (a person or thing) free of something that encumbers
a generous friend unburdened her of that particular financial worry
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of unburdening
Working through his doubts with the help of others allowed Meinerz to reach an unburdening conclusion, one that helped turn him into a first-team All-Pro for the first time in 2024.
—
Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unburdening
Verb
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World War II also provides the backdrop for Concord’s Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, which honors 320 Black soldiers killed in a 1944 explosion while unloading munitions — a tragedy that led to desegregation of the military.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
13 Oct. 2025
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That means loading, then later unloading at the airport here, and doing it all over again at the airport there.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Perhaps a dog barks too much, a cat roams through the yard, or pets are relieving themselves in unwanted areas.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Oct. 2025
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After, guests sip nonalcoholic stress-relieving tonics together, with ingredients like ashwagandha, at the adjacent bar.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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An inevitable part of lawn maintenance, ridding your space of weeds often takes hours to do and requires bending, straining, and stretching in less-than-ideal positions to get the job done.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
23 Sep. 2025
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Many prayed and called for ridding themselves of the divisive, violent rhetoric of the past week.—
Jolene Almendarez,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But the main action involved Norman Reedus’ Daryl sneaking into El Alcazar and killing pretty much everyone there of any villainous importance, while also freeing Roberto’s girlfriend Justina (Candela Saitta).—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
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Vladimir Lenin believed that such families were a prison for women, and his revolutionary comrades—among them, his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya; his mistress Inessa Armand; and his ally Alexandra Kollontai—were assigned the task of freeing them from it.—
Julia Ioffe,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unburdening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unburdening. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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