freight
Americannoun
-
goods, cargo, or lading transported for pay, whether by water, land, or air.
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the ordinary conveyance or means of transport of goods provided by common carriers (distinguished from express).
Shipping by freight is less expensive.
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the charges, fee, or compensation paid for such transportation.
We pay the freight.
- Synonyms:
- haulage, freightage
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(especially in Britain) the cargo, or any part of the cargo, of a vessel; merchandise transported by water.
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Chiefly British. transportation of goods by water.
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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.
- Synonyms:
- charge
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to load with goods or merchandise for transportation.
It took all night to freight the ship.
-
to transport as freight; send by freight.
noun
-
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commercial transport that is slower and cheaper than express
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the price charged for such transport
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goods transported by this means
-
( as modifier )
freight transport
-
-
a ship's cargo or part of it
verb
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to load with goods for transport
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to convey commercially as or by freight
-
to load or burden; charge
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
freightsimple
-
freightssimple
-
have freightedperfect
-
has freightedperfect
-
am freightingprogressive
-
are freightingprogressive
-
is freightingprogressive
-
have been freightingperfect progressive
-
has been freightingperfect progressive
Past
-
freightedsimple
-
had freightedperfect
-
was freightingprogressive
-
were freightingprogressive
-
had been freightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of freight
1350–1400; Middle English freyght (noun), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vrecht, variant of vracht. See fraught
Explanation
Like many nouns that can mean an action as well as an actual thing, freight refers to either the sending of goods or the goods themselves. It can also mean the charge for sending goods. You pay freight for the freight of your freight. Freight can also be used as a verb. If you freight a train with goods, you load it up with items to be shipped, and if you freight your furniture to your new home in another state, you send it there. Use freight like this only if you are sending your things a long distance. If you your new apartment is only across town, you would say that you're moving your things to your new place.
Vocabulary lists containing freight
Beowulf vocabulary
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"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg
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Crossing the Wire
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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.
See Examples For:
The temblor sparked several fires, collapsed buildings, damaged bridges -- including part of one pedestrian walkway that collapsed into a river -- and capsized a freight train.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
However, the analysts say continued weakness in its ocean freight unit and growing dependence on technology customers argue against a more aggressive assessment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The extra distance raises freight and insurance costs, ties up ships and can delay deliveries by weeks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
With ships being tied up for weeks, longer voyages also push up freight and war-risk insurance rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
With six horses, nine passengers, an armed guard, mail, and freight, a fully loaded Concord stage is over six tons in motion.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Although it initially freights our empathy scale to favor Gauthier's side, the story humanizes all parties as it progresses.
From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2022
The sheer cost of her course load freights every school day with expectation.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 8, 2019
The reference, to Noah’s ark, is explicit, but Walker freights it with ugly realities.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 22, 2016
Whereas The Bachelor freights every sidelong glance with portent, DWTS’s stumbles and heartbreaks are all edited to make the stakes feel as low as possible.
From Slate ● May 24, 2016
To require railroad companies to act honestly and charge reasonable rates for carrying freights, does not impair the obligations of any contract.
From Monopolies and the People by Cloud, D. C.
Some elements of this year’s White House decor theme seem similarly freighted.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2025
That complicated human-rights situation is freighted with Saudi Arabia’s history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
“This, in 1865, was particularly freighted language,” Lepore observes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025
But the Nigerien connection remained significant and freighted with a degree of political and perhaps even cultural weight.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2025
Weariness and sorrow freighted each page of his letter.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
The heatwave lowered levels in the Rhine River - a major shipping route - limiting the amount cargo ships can transport and raising freighting costs.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2025
And, he said, growth in freighting has slowed in the years since the pandemic boost, with warehouses seeing higher job vacancy rates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2025
Shannon frames each scene in his modest film with care, freighting many of his shots through doors and windows with meaning.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2023
The company turned briefly to air freighting products to meet demand, but at five or six times the cost of sea freight, it cut into the company’s profits.
From New York Times ● Oct. 31, 2021
Although he no longer ran a freighting business full-time, he still moved some goods and welcomed my assistance.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
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.
