freight
Americannoun
-
goods, cargo, or lading transported for pay, whether by water, land, or air.
-
the ordinary conveyance or means of transport of goods provided by common carriers (distinguished from express).
Shipping by freight is less expensive.
-
the charges, fee, or compensation paid for such transportation.
We pay the freight.
- Synonyms:
- haulage, freightage
-
(especially in Britain) the cargo, or any part of the cargo, of a vessel; merchandise transported by water.
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Chiefly British. transportation of goods by water.
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Slang. cost or price, especially when high.
I'd like a larger house, but can't afford the freight.
verb (used with object)
-
freights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
freighted,
past participle, past
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freighting
present participle
-
to load; burden.
a story heavily freighted with private meaning.
- Synonyms:
- charge
-
to load with goods or merchandise for transportation.
It took all night to freight the ship.
-
to transport as freight; send by freight.
noun
-
-
commercial transport that is slower and cheaper than express
-
the price charged for such transport
-
goods transported by this means
-
( as modifier )
freight transport
-
-
a ship's cargo or part of it
verb
-
to load with goods for transport
-
to convey commercially as or by freight
-
to load or burden; charge
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
freightsimple
-
freightssimple
-
have freightedperfect
-
has freightedperfect
-
am freightingprogressive
-
are freightingprogressive
-
is freightingprogressive
-
have been freightingperfect progressive
-
has been freightingperfect progressive
Past
-
freightedsimple
-
had freightedperfect
-
was freightingprogressive
-
were freightingprogressive
-
had been freightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of freight
1350–1400; Middle English freyght (noun), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vrecht, variant of vracht. See fraught
Explanation
Like many nouns that can mean an action as well as an actual thing, freight refers to either the sending of goods or the goods themselves. It can also mean the charge for sending goods. You pay freight for the freight of your freight. Freight can also be used as a verb. If you freight a train with goods, you load it up with items to be shipped, and if you freight your furniture to your new home in another state, you send it there. Use freight like this only if you are sending your things a long distance. If you your new apartment is only across town, you would say that you're moving your things to your new place.
Vocabulary lists containing freight
Beowulf vocabulary
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"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg
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Crossing the Wire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The boom has pushed ocean freight rates for cars to double their prepandemic levels, Enger said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
All it takes to understand how he’s been turning himself into a freight train is seeing his time in the 100 meters on the track team in the spring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Revenue growth was driven by market capacity constraints supporting the express and air freight units.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The conspiracy extends to freight, logistics and fuel companies on the U.S. side, authorities say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
And then—remember?—the train whistle and the boring light and a freight from King City would go stomping across Castroville Street and into Salinas and you could hear it sighing at the station.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
There’s something of a pattern here, one that freights that statement with irony.
From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2023
Pairing her with Paul, who brings a hardened soulfulness to Caleb, freights their adventure with palpable tautness.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2022
At night, the carriage can rock while negotiating a bend and freights enter your dreams as their cargo thrums past but these minor intrusions authenticate a true railway experience.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 29, 2020
The sheer cost of her course load freights every school day with expectation.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 8, 2019
In spite of this impost, and the heavy freights, amounting to nearly fifty per cent., the merchants are described as making enormous profits.
From The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof, Volume I (of 2) by Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza
Can you please unpack the really freighted language in the birthright citizenship clause that is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2026
Some elements of this year’s White House decor theme seem similarly freighted.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2025
That complicated human-rights situation is freighted with Saudi Arabia’s history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
Kevan Harris, an associate professor of sociology at UCLA, said that any U.S. involvement in a military conflict with Iran is freighted with meaning, and has long been the subject of hand-wringing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2025
Hie word was freighted with such seductiveness that Kaede picked up the goblet without hesitation.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
And, he said, growth in freighting has slowed in the years since the pandemic boost, with warehouses seeing higher job vacancy rates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2025
Environmental advocates have long warned about the dangers of trains freighting hazardous chemicals.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2023
Per the statement from the White House, "Bypassing regular air freighting routes will speed up the importation and distribution of formula and serve as an immediate support as manufacturers continue to ramp up production."
From Salon ● May 18, 2022
One of the islands' main salmon exporters - Hiddenfjord - is also doing its bit, by ceasing the air freighting of its fresh fish.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2021
Although he no longer ran a freighting business full-time, he still moved some goods and welcomed my assistance.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
