cargo

[ kahr-goh ]

noun

, plural car·goes, car·gos.

1. the lading or freight of a ship, airplane, etc.
2. load.

   Synonyms: burden

3. cargos, pants or shorts having several cargo pockets to hold bulky gear and small items.

adjective

1. of or denoting a style of pants or shorts with cargo pockets.

cargo

/ ˈkɑːɡəʊ /

noun

1. 1. goods carried by a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle; freight
   2. ( as modifier )

      a cargo vessel

2. any load

   the train pulled in with its cargo of new arrivals

Word History and Origins

Origin of cargo¹

1640–50; from Spanish: “a load,” noun derivative of cargar “to load,” from Late Latin carricāre; charge

Word History and Origins

Origin of cargo¹

C17: from Spanish: from cargar to load, from Late Latin carricāre to load a vehicle, from carrus car

Synonym Study

See freight.

Example Sentences

A gang has been jailed after trying to smuggle cocaine with a street value of about £200m in a cargo of bananas from Colombia.

From BBC

Other studies suggest even normal axons bulge temporarily when cargo traveling to and from the cell nucleus forms a traffic jam, like the elephant bulging inside the body of a boa in the children’s book The Little Prince.

From Science Magazine

Meanwhile, a cargo ship moored in the port of Thessaloniki was swept away in the high winds, leading to a collision with another cargo ship, and damage to both vessels.

From BBC

One tells the story of how a fabled ship carrying a life-saving cargo of food heads to port during a terrible famine that swept the Levant in the dying days of Ottoman rule.

From BBC

It was meant to deliver salvation, but only brought further bitter disappointment and loss - as its cargo contained almost nothing to eat.

From BBC

Related Words

• consignment
• freight
• goods
• load
• merchandise
• payload
• shipment