Definition

1. Verb:
   • To burden someone or something with a heavy or excessive amount of objects, responsibilities, or tasks. It implies adding weight or pressure, often to the point of making movement or function difficult.

Usage

• The verb "load down" is a transitive phrasal verb. It requires a direct object (the person or thing being burdened) and is often followed by "with" to introduce the source of the burden.
• Structure: .

Examples

• Verb:
  • Before the hike, they loaded us down with heavy backpacks and supplies.
  • The manager loaded the team down with extra paperwork just before the holiday.
  • Don't load the table down with too many books; the legs are weak.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: Often used metaphorically to describe overwhelming someone with non-physical burdens.
  • She was loaded down with guilt after the argument.
  • The new policy loads down small businesses with complex regulations.

Variants and Related Words

• Load (verb): To put a load on or in (a vehicle, container, etc.). This is the base verb without the emphatic "down."
  • We need to load the truck before we leave.
• Loaded down (adjective phrase): Describing the state of being burdened.
  • The donkey, loaded down with firewood, moved slowly.

Synonyms

• Weigh down: To burden or make heavy.
• Burden: To load or overload.
• Encumber: To impede or hamper with a burden.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Load up: To put a large quantity of something into a vehicle or container. This focuses more on the action of filling rather than the resulting burden.
  • We need to load up the car for the road trip.

Related Idioms

• Have enough on one's plate: To have many problems or tasks to deal with. This is a near-synonymous idiom for being figuratively "loaded down."
  • I can't take on another project; I have enough on my plate already.

Verb

1. load with a pack