cargo

American  

[kahr-goh] / ˈkɑr goʊ /

noun

• cargoes,
  plural
• cargos
  plural

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.

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adjective

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

cargo British  

/ 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

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Usage

What does cargo mean? Cargo is the load of materials being transported by a vehicle like a ship, airplane, train, or truck, especially for commercial or professional purposes. The word cargo is used collectively—it’s a singular noun that refers to a group of items. For example, all of the shipping containers being transported by a ship are its cargo. Such a ship can be called a cargo ship or a cargo liner. A plane primarily carrying cargo can be called a cargo plane. Such a train is typically called a freight train (freight is a close synonym of cargo). Cargo is often distinguished from other things that the vehicle might be carrying, such as passengers—the distinction is often made between a cargo ship or a cargo plane and a passenger ship or passenger plane. Cargo is also used as a modifier (adjective) in a lot of terms related to cargo and its transport and storage. The place in a ship or plane where cargo is stored is called the cargo hold. On the space shuttle, the place where equipment is stored is called the cargo bay. Cargo is sometimes used more casually in nonprofessional contexts. When packing up your car to move or go on vacation, you might say that it’s fully loaded with your cargo, but this is usually intended as a kind of joke. The word can even be used in this way to refer to people, as in A lot of parents like to alert other drivers to their precious cargo with those “baby on board” signs. The word cargo is also used in the terms cargo pants and cargo shorts, which have large side pockets (called cargo pockets) designed to be able to carry a lot of stuff. Such pants or shorts are sometimes called cargoes (or cargos), as in I think it’s time for a new pair or cargoes—these have holes in both of the pockets.  Example: We’re set to pull out of port as soon as the cargo is secured.

Synonym Usage

See freight.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cargoes
  plural
• cargos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cargo

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

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Explanation

Cargo refers to goods carried by a large vehicle, like a plane, ship, train, or truck. See a giant truck on the highway piled high with boxes, lumber, or new cars? It's carrying cargo. Cargo originates from the Latin word carricare which means "to load on a cart, or wagon." Cargo can be loaded on a cart, but it's usually loaded on something much bigger. On a ship, cargo is stacked up in huge, colorful metal containers. These containers can be full of all types of cargo, like food, furniture, or electronics. You'll rarely need the plural, but it's formed by adding an -s or more commonly, an -es (cargoes).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cargo cargoes cargos

The Khoryv cargo ship, flying the Comoros flag, was "struck by a drone and sank near Romanian territorial waters", Dan said in a Facebook post.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

U.S. railroads continued to benefit from shippers shifting cargo to rail from trucks, with Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and CSX this week posting higher quarterly revenues and profits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

FedEx is among cargo carriers that have added hours to flights to get to places such as Dubai.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Core Power aims to start construction of nuclear-powered cargo vessels in 2028, though the ships could cost several times more than traditional ones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

A fellow camarada, Pedrinho Craveiro, who was assigned to guard the food and cargo at their last camp, had caught Julio stealing again.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

He added that unless the government saw "an absolute dire need", it would not be procuring spot cargoes on the LNG front, which tend to be far more expensive than previously contracted shipments.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

Attacks on LNG plants in the Middle East have removed significant supply from the global market and left European and Japanese customers bidding against each other for cargoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

As a result, Iran is expanding its targets to non-oil cargoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Prices for November-delivery cargoes to Northwest Europe have nearly doubled over the same period, rising to $26.94 from $13.86, according to the latest data from Argus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The spies sent the Nazis many shipping details from South American ports, too—long lists of vessel names, cargoes, and departure dates.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Shell said Tuesday in its annual LNG report that global physical LNG cargos sold this year could be similar to the 422 million metric tons sold in 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

In March, two cargos of jet fuel went to Europe from New York harbor, which Cinquegrana said it was a “very rare” occurrence that wouldn’t have made economic sense before the war.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026

This compares with 33 cargos and 127.6 trillion British thermal units in the prior year.

From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026

Smith: The inspiration for my outfit were the Compton Cowboys, so I wanted to do the flannel, I’ve got the cargos, the Margiela work boots and the cowboy hat.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025

He fished some cargos, a long-sleeved camouflage T-shirt, and a fleece sweatshirt from his suitcase, and then an extra set of underwear and socks.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

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Related Words

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

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