noun
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goods carried by a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle; freight
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( as modifier )
a cargo vessel
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any load
the train pulled in with its cargo of new arrivals
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.
Related Words
See freight.
Etymology
Origin of cargo
1640–50; from Spanish: “a load,” noun derivative of cargar “to load,” from Late Latin carricāre; charge
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.
This year, mercenaries began transiting through Bosaso in Somalia, where local sources told AFP a UAE-run section of a military base has hosted platoons of uniformed foreigners, transported in cargo planes.
From Barron's
U.S. policymakers shouldn’t underestimate Qatar’s competitive advantages, which may impact the ability of U.S. exporters to place their cargoes abroad in the year ahead.
From Barron's
In this case, the virus was stripped of harmful components and loaded with beneficial cargo -- pleiotrophin -- so it could deliver the molecule directly into cells.
From Science Daily
Upstart cargo airlines are forging what they call a modern silk road, connecting factory hubs in China to population centers across Europe, where Chinese immigrants get paid to store goods in spare rooms.
The NGO says it detected six ship-to-ship cargo transfers in waters off western Venezuela.
From BBC
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.
