overburden

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From over- +‎ burden.

Pronunciation

verb:

noun:

Verb

overburden (third-person singular simple present overburdens, present participle overburdening, simple past and past participle overburdened)

  1. (transitive) To overload or overtax.
    • 2007, Kimberley Coles, Democratic Designs, →ISBN:
      In reality, the levels of work varied: some internationals seemed overburdened with tasks and responsibility, some seemed underburdened, and some faced apparently just the right amount of work.
    • 2023 January 11, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Division over 5.9% increase in regulated rail fares”, in RAIL, number 974, page 16:
      He said the increase would avoid overburdening taxpayers who have subsidised the railways by £31 billion since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Translations

Noun

overburden (plural overburdens)

  2. (geology) The rock and subsoil that lies above a mineral deposit such as a coal seam, or any other underground feature.
    Synonym: mullock
    • 1953 January, “Notes and News: Arley Tunnel, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 61:
      Before much progress was made with the inverts, however, the movement became accelerated, and it was decided to lighten the load over the tunnel by removing some of the soil, […] . This reduction in the overburden arrested the movement, and the inverting and centring were completed, and the tunnel opened again to traffic on April 9, 1949.
    • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 163:
      Such rocks have been changed by baking in a terrestrial pressure-cooker. Then they have been disinterred: kilometres of overburden must have been removed.
    • 2007, Erik Eberhardt, Doug Stead, Tom Morrison, Rock Mechanics: Meeting Society's Challenges and Demands, →ISBN:
      Settari (2002) and Osorio et al. (1999) also suggest that the analysis domain should include overburdens, sideburdens and underburdens for better accommodation of the coupling effects of stress changes and flow.
  3. (archaeology) A sterile stratum that lies above the stratum being investigated

References

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