freight

[ freyt ]

/ freɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR freight ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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

Chiefly British. transportation of goods by water.

freight train.

Slang. cost or price, especially when high: I'd like a larger house, but can't afford the freight.

verb (used with object)

to load; burden: a story heavily freighted with private meaning.

to load with goods or merchandise for transportation: It took all night to freight the ship.

to transport as freight; send by freight.

Nearby words

frege, gottlob, frei, frei test, freiberg's disease, freiburg, freight, freight agent, freight car, freight engine, freight forwarder, freight house

Origin of freight

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

SYNONYMS FOR freight

1 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.

3 freightage, haulage.

8 charge.

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Related formsfreight·less, adjectiveo·ver·freight, verb (used with object)un·freight·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for freight

Up in the tower, Bucca was joined by Battalion Chief Orio Palmer, who had managed to get a freight elevator to bring him part way.
The Flying New York Fireman Who Shined on 9/11|Michael Daly|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Toledo is a tough city, a factory town, a freight train junction, a lake steamer port.
Toledo: The Town Too Tough for Toxic Water|P. J. O’Rourke|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The danger is a bigger fire in an under-floor baggage or freight hold.
What Pilots Fear|Patrick Smith|September 3, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Charges for freight and passenger travel were enormous in the early days of the road.
Prowling about Panama|George A. Miller

He and his companions had broken open a freight car and had brought each a good load.
Ralph on the Overland Express|Allen Chapman
Freight was scarce and, had it not been for government shipments, some of the railroads would have been abandoned.
The Sequel of Appomattox|Walter Lynwood Fleming
You promised to freight my ship ere I departed, and so you shall; or I mean to load her with your dead carcasses.
The Pocahontas-John Smith Story|Pocahontas Wight Edmunds
By this route fifty dollars was saved on every ton of freight from Ottawa to the middle north.
The Story of Isaac Brock|Walter R. Nursey

British Dictionary definitions for freight

freight

/ (freɪt) /

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

mainly British a ship's cargo or part of it

verb (tr)

to load with goods for transport

mainly US and Canadian to convey commercially as or by freight

to load or burden; charge

Derived Formsfreightless, adjective

Word Origin for freight

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for freight

freight

early 13c., fraght, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vracht, vrecht, meaning originally "cost of transport" and probably from a lost Old Frisian word, from Proto-Germanic *fra-aihtiz "absolute possession, property" (cf. Old High German freht "earnings"), from *fra-, intensive prefix, + *aik "to be master of, possess," from PIE *aik- (see owe). Meaning "transporting of goods or passengers for money" is from late 14c. Danish fragt, Swedish frakt apparently also are from Frisian. As a verb, from late 14c.

freight

noun

verb (used with object)

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Nearby words

Origin of freight

Examples from the Web for freight

British Dictionary definitions for freight

freight

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for freight

Word Origin and History for freight

freight