freight
Americannoun
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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)
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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.
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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
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have freightedperfect
-
has freightedperfect
-
am freightingprogressive
-
are freightingprogressive
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is freightingprogressive
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have been freightingperfect progressive
-
has been freightingperfect progressive
Past
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freightedsimple
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had freightedperfect
-
was freightingprogressive
-
were freightingprogressive
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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
Also, the Middle East conflict should delay pace of full-scale resumption of Suez Canal, potentially supporting container freight rates and the port manager’s pricing power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
At the same time, the company cautioned that volatile macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical conflicts and global trade tensions pose heightened risks to freight demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
CN Rail now expects low-single-digit growth in revenue ton miles, the rail industry’s measure of freight volume, due to higher demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The freight trains on the siding were loaded down with men trying to get from one part of the country to another, looking for work and something to eat.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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
At night, the carriage can rock while negotiating a bend and freights enter your dreams as their cargo thrums past but these minor intrusions authenticate a true railway experience.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 29, 2020
The sheer cost of her course load freights every school day with expectation.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 8, 2019
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
In spite of this impost, and the heavy freights, amounting to nearly fifty per cent., the merchants are described as making enormous profits.
From The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof, Volume I (of 2) by Mendoza, Juan Gonzalez de
Dramatists are more cognizant than ever of the sociopolitical import of these contradictions and they’ve been chronicling the way this historically freighted baggage emerges in the drama of everyday life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The fruit is pre-cooled for five hours before being packed and transported in refrigerated vans and then stored in cold rooms before being air freighted.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Can you please unpack the really freighted language in the birthright citizenship clause that is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2026
Some elements of this year’s White House decor theme seem similarly freighted.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2025
“Maybe I was naive,” he said in a halting voice freighted with emotion.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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
What’s fallen off a little is the stories freighting that message.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
Per the statement from the White House, "Bypassing regular air freighting routes will speed up the importation and distribution of formula and serve as an immediate support as manufacturers continue to ramp up production."
From Salon ● May 18, 2022
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
My uncle had worked with him over the years when Big Schoolboy ran a freighting business, carrying goods back and forth by horse-drawn wagon between his home in Chinle and Gallup.
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.
