Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To burden with too much weight; overload.
- v. To subject to an excessive burden or strain; overtax.
- n. An excessive burden; an overload.
- n. Geology Material overlying a useful mineral deposit.
- n. Geology Sedimentary rock covering older crystalline layers.
- n. Archaeology A sterile stratum overlying a stratum bearing traces of the culture being studied.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To load with too great burden or weight; overload; overtask: as, trees overburdened with fruit.
- n. Detrital material or rock which has to be removed, as being of no value, in order to get at some valuable substance beneath, which it is intended to mine or quarry: used in reference to quarrying or excavating clay and similar materials.
- n. An excessive load; a burden or load greater than should be carried.
Wiktionary
- n. The rock and subsoil that lies above a mineral deposit such as a coal seam
- n. A sterile stratum that lies above the stratum being investigated
- v. To overload or overtax
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To load with too great weight or too much care, etc.
- n. The waste which overlies good stone in a quarry.
WordNet 3.0
- v. burden with too much work or responsibility
- v. load with excessive weight
- n. the surface soil that must be moved away to get at coal seams and mineral deposits
- n. an excessive burden
Examples
“The earth above, what we call overburden, it's shifting, because when you remove part of the earth underneath, pressure has to go somewhere because it's going to drop.”
“The "overburden" is placed in an adjacent valley fill while workers use enormous equipment to mine the coal.”
“To the industry, these diverse and ecologically significant forests and wetlands are referred to as overburden, the forest to be stripped and the wetlands dredged and replaced by mines and tailings ponds so vast they can be seen from outer space.”
“Essentially, what you see is the adjustments there in backlog is mainly related to our long-term overburden projects.”
“Entire Appalachian chains of peaks are being leveled and creeks smothered with "overburden" - all for Great music is also on the agenda, both sanctioned by E-LAW and at venues around Eugene.”
“The mineral reserve is extracted after the overlying material, called overburden is removed.”
“It had been blocked by a decision by water regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency who were concerned about filling local stream beds with what miners call "overburden" and others call tons of soil and debris.”
“We know that there were worries of health-care facilities becoming overburden, which is why President Barack Obama declared the Swine Flu a national emergency.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘overburden’.
-
It's Over: A Beginning
Terms that start with the string over-, beginning with overanxious.
Your entries are welcome.
overanxious, overachiever, oversimplified, overdone, overaccentuate, overact, overadjustment, overage, overaggressive, overalert, overalls, overambitious and 125 more...
-
Unwanted matter
gangue, dross, slag, scoria, refuse, trash, cinder, ashes, leavings, recrement, debris, waste and 37 more...
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.