Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To free from or relieve of a burden or trouble.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To rid of a load; free from a burden; ease.
  • To throw off as being a burden; discharge; hence, to disclose; reveal.
  • To relieve, as the mind or heart, by disclosing what lies heavy on it; also, reflexively, to relieve (one's self) in this way: as, he unburdened himself to his confessor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To relieve from a burden.
  • transitive verb To throw off, as a burden; to unload.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To free from burden, or relieve from trouble.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb free or relieve (someone) of a burden
  • verb take the burden off; remove the burden from

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word unburden.

Examples

  • The idea is that citizens should be allowed to unburden themselves of sin and seek forgiveness, usually involving a priest in the Catholic confessional.

    The Sins of Brother Curtis Lisa Davis 2011

  • And to unburden those who had to carry more than their end of thelog.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » DADT Repeal Soon? 2010

  • In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet chose to unburden herself about her illicit love to her busybody nurse, who hustled off to tell Romeo like a sixteenth-century gossip.

    Make Yourself Unforgettable Dale Carnegie 2011

  • When you do, a tremendous weight will be lifted from you as you unburden your mind and your soul.

    Recovering From Religious Abuse Jack Watts 2011

  • This was exactly what he worried about—that just seeing her made him want to unburden every secret in his soul.

    How to Woo a Reluctant Lady Deborah Gonzales 2011

  • In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet chose to unburden herself about her illicit love to her busybody nurse, who hustled off to tell Romeo like a sixteenth-century gossip.

    Make Yourself Unforgettable Dale Carnegie 2011

  • He chose to unburden himself in public as well as in private.

    Sanford to reimburse state for trip, denies wrongdoing 2009

  • When you do, a tremendous weight will be lifted from you as you unburden your mind and your soul.

    Recovering From Religious Abuse Jack Watts 2011

  • This was exactly what he worried about—that just seeing her made him want to unburden every secret in his soul.

    How to Woo a Reluctant Lady Deborah Gonzales 2011

  • The idea is that citizens should be allowed to unburden themselves of sin and seek forgiveness, usually involving a priest in the Catholic confessional.

    The Sins of Brother Curtis Lisa Davis 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.