payload

American  

[pey-lohd] / ˈpeɪˌloʊd /

noun

1. the part of a cargo producing revenue or income, usually expressed in weight.

2. the number of paying passengers, as on an airplane.

3. Aerospace, Military.

   1. the bomb load, warhead, cargo, or passengers of an aircraft, a rocket, missile, etc., for delivery at a target or destination.

   2. the total complement of equipment carried by a spacecraft for the performance of a particular mission in space.

   3. the explosive energy of the warhead of a missile or of the bomb load of an aircraft.

      a payload of 50 megatons.

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payload British  

/ ˈpeɪˌləʊd /

noun

1. that part of a cargo earning revenue

2. 1. the passengers, cargo, or bombs carried by an aircraft

   2. the equipment carried by a rocket, satellite, or spacecraft

3. the explosive power of a warhead, bomb, etc, carried by a missile or aircraft

   a missile carrying a 50-megaton payload

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Etymology

Origin of payload

First recorded in 1925–30; pay ¹ + load

Explanation

Payload is what a vehicle carries. If you have a plane with a payload of one ton, then that plane can carry one ton (including you and the snacks you may bring aboard). Often, payload is estimated to be everything on board a vehicle that's worth money, or that produces income for the vehicle's owner. In the case of a commercial jet, that might be all the paying passengers. In other cases, a truck, ship, or plane's payload includes every single person and item on board, including the flight crew and fuel. From about 1936, payload frequently referred to bombs carried by a military plane or missile.

Example Sentences

But a space launch system doesn’t include a re-entry vehicle with heat shielding that could protect a potential nuclear payload over an intercontinental distance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

However, Musk is counting on using his massive Starship rocket, which is under development and can lift more than five times the payload.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

It marks "our largest payload that we have launched to date," Martijn Van Delden, head of commercial development for Europe at Amazon Leo, told AFP.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

Veronica Viera, the company's payload operations lead, shows us an image that the satellite beamed back from space.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2025

We never knew the elementary school was helping us until their custodian drove up to the loading bay with the payload of his truck overflowing with chain.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman