handicap — a race or other contest in which certain disadvantages or advantages of weight, distance, time, etc., are placed upon competitors to equalize their chances of winning.
strain — to draw tight or taut, especially to the utmost tension; stretch to the full: to strain a rope.
tax — a tax levied according to the value of the property, merchandise, etc., being taxed.
inconvenience — the quality or state of being inconvenient.
albatross — An albatross is a very large white seabird.
cross — If you cross something such as a room, a road, or an area of land or water, you move or travel to the other side of it. If you cross to a place, you move or travel over a room, road, or area of land or water in order to reach that place.
debt — A debt is a sum of money that you owe someone.
duty — something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.
guilt — the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, especially against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt.
load — anything put in or on something for conveyance or transportation; freight; cargo: The truck carried a load of watermelons.
millstone — either of a pair of circular stones between which grain or another substance is ground, as in a mill.
obstruction — something that obstructs, blocks, or closes up with an obstacle or obstacles; obstacle or hindrance: obstructions to navigation.
responsibility — the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.
saddle — a seat for a rider on the back of a horse or other animal.
weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
worry — to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
ball and chain — (formerly) a heavy iron ball attached to a chain and fastened to a prisoner
monkey on one's back — any mammal of the order Primates, including the guenons, macaques, langurs, and capuchins, but excluding humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the tarsier and prosimians. Compare New World monkey, Old World monkey.
thorn in one's side — a sharp excrescence on a plant, especially a sharp-pointed aborted branch; spine; prickle.
