English

Alternative forms

• overburthen

Verb

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

1. To overload or overtax

Noun

overburden ‎(plural overburdens)

1. (geology) The rock and subsoil that lies above a mineral deposit such as a coal seam.
   • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 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.

2. (archaeology) A sterile stratum that lies above the stratum being investigated

References

Wikipedia