Meaning & use
bear the burden
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Meanings
phraseidiom
to accept and deal with a difficult duty, cost, or responsibility, especially when it is heavy or unfair
Grammar: Used with 'of' before the thing that causes the difficulty: bear the burden of care. 'Bear' changes to 'bears', 'bore', or 'borne'.
Patterns
- bear the burden of something
- bear the burden for someone
- bear the burden alone
After her father died, she had to bear the burden of running the family business.
Taxpayers often bear the burden of bailing out failing banks.
He refused to let his children bear the burden of his mistakes.
phraseidiom
to suffer the main force or weight of something unpleasant, such as an attack or criticism
Grammar: Often used with 'of' to name what is suffered: bear the burden of criticism.
Patterns
- bear the burden of something
- bear the full burden of something
Small farmers bore the burden of the drought while large companies survived.
The coach bore the burden of the team's embarrassing defeat.
Common combinations
- bear the burden of proof
- In a criminal trial, the prosecution bears the burden of proof.
- bear the burden of responsibility
- As team leader, she bears the burden of responsibility for every decision.
- bear a heavy burden
- He bore a heavy burden after his wife became ill.
- share the burden
- The two countries agreed to share the burden of housing the refugees.
- ease the burden
- The new law is designed to ease the burden on small businesses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shoulder
- More active and informal; it suggests you deliberately take on the duty, as in 'shoulder the blame'.
- carry
- Used in the phrase 'carry the burden', it is a little less formal and often suggests continuing to support something over time.
- take on
- Focuses on agreeing to accept the duty, not on the difficulty of enduring it.
Opposites
Word family
- burden noun
- A heavy load or difficult duty that someone has to deal with.
- burdensome adjective
- Causing worry, effort, or difficulty.
- bearable adjective
- Able to be accepted or endured.
Commonly confused: bear the burden or bare?
bear the burden vs bare
'Bare' means uncovered or empty (bare feet, bare walls), while 'bear' means to carry or endure. They sound the same but are unrelated.
Practice
In many families, women still ______ the burden of unpaid housework.
Choose one answer.
The idiom needs the base verb 'bear' after 'still'. 'Bare' is a different word meaning uncovered, 'born' is only used for birth, and 'borne' is the past participle, which cannot follow 'still' here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bear the burden”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.