freight

[freyt]

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.

Origin of freight

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

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

Synonyms for freight

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for freight

transportation, shipping, carriage, consignment, shipment, payload, merchandise, load, lading, encumbrance, weight, wares, bulk, haul, conveyance, ballast, burden, contents, pack, fardel

Examples from the Web for freight

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
The danger is a bigger fire in an under-floor baggage or freight hold.
What Pilots Fear
Patrick Smith
September 3, 2009

Historical Examples of freight

She was to receive a freight of flour, for Cowes and a market.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
"My name is 'Dennis,' if I don't beat that freight," she retorted curtly.
Good Indian
B. M. Bower
He had come at twenty-two, beating his way on freight trains.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
There are long lines of freight cars here and snorting locomotives.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
Some of them did not unload, but others dumped piles of freight by the docks.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole

British Dictionary definitions for freight

freight

noun

1. commercial transport that is slower and cheaper than express
2. the price charged for such transport
3. goods transported by this means
4. (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

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.