freight

[freyt]

noun

1. goods, cargo, or lading transported for pay, whether by water, land, or air.

2. the ordinary conveyance or means of transport of goods provided by common carriers (express ).

   Shipping by freight is less expensive.

3. the charges, fee, or compensation paid for such transportation.

   We pay the freight.

   Synonyms: haulage, freightage

4. (especially in Britain) the cargo, or any part of the cargo, of a vessel; merchandise transported by water.

5. Chiefly British.,  transportation of goods by water.

6. freight train.

7. Slang.,  cost or price, especially when high.

   I'd like a larger house, but can't afford the freight.

verb (used with object)

1. to load; burden.

   a story heavily freighted with private meaning.

   Synonyms: charge

2. to load with goods or merchandise for transportation.

   It took all night to freight the ship.

3. to transport as freight; send by freight.

freight

/ freɪt /

noun

1. 1. commercial transport that is slower and cheaper than express

   2. the price charged for such transport

   3. goods transported by this means

   4. ( as modifier )

      freight transport

2. a ship's cargo or part of it

verb

1. to load with goods for transport

2. to convey commercially as or by freight

3. to load or burden; charge

Other Word Forms

• freightless adjective
• overfreight verb (used with object)
• unfreighted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of freight¹

1350–1400; Middle English freyght (noun), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vrecht, variant of vracht. See fraught

Word History and Origins

Origin of freight¹

C16: from Middle Dutch vrecht ; related to French fret , Spanish flete , Portuguese frete

Synonym Study

Freight, cargo, shipment refer to goods being transported from place to place. Freight is the general term for goods transported from one place to another by any means: to send freight from New York to New Orleans. Cargo is the term generally used for goods carried by ship or plane: to send a cargo to Europe. Shipment is a quantity of goods destined for a particular place, no matter how sent: a shipment of potatoes.

Example Sentences

Pugh said he heard hissing before the explosion and then a roaring sound similar to a freight train that lasted for about 30 minutes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After going to art school and hopping freight trains for several years, he moved to Los Angeles in 2002 originally to join the Merchant Marines.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Diesel freight pollution has long hit hardest in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color near ports, warehouses and freight corridors, causing higher rates of asthma, heart disease and cancer.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The trucks keep rolling on Highway 99 in California, the route bustling with freight traffic through the Central Valley.

Read more on BBC

It could also help clean up the port, which has long struggled with pollution issues linked to ship engines, diesel trucks and other freight equipment that spews particulate matter into the air.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• carriage 
• consignment 
• merchandise 
• payload 
• shipment 
• shipping 
• transportation