Boy, even empty, carrying some weight (5)
I believe the answer is:
laden
'carrying some weight' is the definition.
'boy even empty' is the wordplay.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (lad is a kind of boy**).
'empty' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'even' with its centre removed is 'en'.
'lad'+'en'='LADEN'
(Other definitions for laden that I've seen before include "Heavily loaded" , "cargo aboard" , "Like many a cargo ship" , "Eland (anag)" , "bearing burden" .)