cargo

[kahr-goh]

noun

plural

cargoes, cargos 

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

And it is undeniably a pleasant novelty not to see patrons at the theater in cargo shorts and T-shirts that talk to you.

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As the Edmund Fitzgerald loaded its cargo hold on a Sunday afternoon in the fall, the Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior was unseasonably warm.

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The final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald took its cargo out into Lake Superior, where a killer storm was brewing.

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The more routes you have to take cargo into Europe and the region, the better for trade because you don’t want to be locked into one way.

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Freight brokers match cargo with space on trucks, making money on the difference between what a carrier charges and what a shipper pays.

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Related Words

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

When To Use

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.