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load

[ lohd ]

/ loʊd /

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See synonyms for: load / loaded / loading / loads on Thesaurus.com

noun

anything put in or on something for conveyance or transportation; freight; cargo: The truck carried a load of watermelons.

the quantity that can be or usually is carried at one time, as in a cart.

this quantity taken as a unit of measure or weight or a discrete quantity (usually used in combination): carload; wagonload.

the quantity borne or sustained by something; burden: a tree weighed down by its load of fruit.

the weight supported by a structure or part.

the amount of work assigned to or to be done by a person, team, department, machine, or mechanical system: a reasonable load of work.

something that weighs down or oppresses like a burden; onus: Supporting her younger brothers has been a heavy load for her.

loads, Informal. a great quantity or number: loads of fun; loads of people.

the charge for a firearm.

a commission charged to buyers of mutual-fund shares.

Engineering. any of the forces that a structure is calculated to oppose, comprising any unmoving and unvarying force (dead load ), any load from wind or earthquake, and any other moving or temporary force (live load ).

Electricity.

the power delivered by a generator, motor, power station, or transformer.
a device that receives power.

Mechanics. the external resistance overcome by an engine, dynamo, or the like, under given conditions, measured and expressed in terms of the power required.

Geology. the burden of sediment being carried by a stream or river.Compare bed load.

Slang. a sufficient amount of liquor drunk to cause intoxication: He's got a load on tonight.

verb (used with object)

to put a load on or in; fill: to load a ship.

to supply abundantly, lavishly, or excessively with something (often followed by down): They loaded us down with gifts.

to weigh down, burden, or oppress (often followed by down, with, on, etc.): to feel loaded down with responsibilities; to load oneself with obligations.

to insert a charge, projectile, etc., into (a firearm).

to place (film, tape, etc.) into a camera or other device: He loaded the film into the camera.

to place film, tape, etc., into (a camera or other device): How do you load this camera?

to take on as a load: a ship loading coal.

to add to the weight of, sometimes fraudulently: The silver candlesticks were loaded with lead.

Insurance. to increase (the net premium) by adding charges, as for expenses.

to add additional or prejudicial meaning to (a statement, question, etc.): The attorney kept loading his questions in the hope of getting the reply he wanted.

to overcharge (a word, expression, etc.) with extraneous values of emotion, sentiment, or the like: emotion that loads any reference to home, flag, and mother.

to weight (dice) so that they will always come to rest with particular faces upward.

Baseball. to have or put runners at (first, second, and third bases): They loaded the bases with two out in the eighth inning.

Fine Arts.

to place a large amount of pigment on (a brush).
to apply a thick layer of pigment to (a canvas).

Metalworking.

(of metal being deep-drawn) to become welded to (the drawing tool).
(of material being ground) to fill the depressions in the surface of (a grinding wheel).
(in powder metallurgy) to fill the cavity of (a die).

Computers.

to bring (a program or data) into main storage from external or auxiliary storage.
to place (an input/output medium) into an appropriate device, as by inserting a disk into a disk drive.

Electricity. to add (a power-absorbing device) to an electric circuit.

verb (used without object)

to put on or take on a load, as of passengers or goods: The bus usually loads at the side door.

to load a firearm.

to enter a carrier or conveyance (usually followed by into): The students loaded quickly into the buses.

to become filled or occupied: The ship loaded with people in only 15 minutes.

adverb

loads, Informal. very much; a great deal: Thanks loads. It would help loads if you sent some money.

OTHER WORDS FOR load

7 weight, encumbrance.

16 lade.

18 weight, encumber.

See synonyms for load on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR load

18 disburden.

See antonyms for load on Thesaurus.com

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Idioms about load

get a load of, Slang.

to look at; notice; observe.
to listen to with interest: Did you get a load of what she said?

load the dice, to put someone or something in a advantageous or disadvantageous position; affect or influence the result: Lack of sufficient education loaded the dice against him as a candidate for the job.

Origin of load

before 1000; Middle English lode (noun); originally the same word as lode (Old English lād way, course, carrying); senses influenced by lade

synonym study for load

7. Load, burden referred originally to something placed on a person or animal or put into a vehicle for conveyance. Both load and burden are still used in this literal sense, though burden only infrequently, except in such fixed phrases as beast of burden and a ship of 1500 tons burden (carrying capacity). Both words have come to be used figuratively to refer to duties, cares, etc., that are oppressively heavy, and this is now the main meaning of burden : You have taken a load off my mind. Some children are a burden.

OTHER WORDS FROM load

loadless, adjectivere·load, noun, verbun·der·load, verb (used with object)

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH load

load , lode

Words nearby load

lndry rm, LNG, LNPF, lo, loach, load, load displacement, loaded, loaded for bear, loaded question, loader

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use load in a sentence

We’ve arrived sans luggage but with loads of curiosity as to how the night will progress.
Now that’s room service: What it’s like to check into a hotel just for dinner|Tom Sietsema|February 12, 2021|Washington Post
Twice a week, the retired veterinary pathologist picks up half-ton loads of donated groceries from the Trader Joe’s in his neighborhood, then delivers the food to two charities for distribution.
Restaurants throw away a lot of food. These volunteers pick it up first and take it to people who are hungry.|Cathy Free|February 12, 2021|Washington Post
If your job requires you to spend many hours at your desk, then perhaps you may sacrifice the look of a chic, smaller chair and go for a larger ergonomic model that gives you loads of support.
Best desk chair for any home office|PopSci Commerce Team|February 11, 2021|Popular-Science
You can count me in for pretty much any dish with “loaded” and “potato” in its name.
Chili-tinged sweet potatoes are loaded in all the right ways - flavor, nutrition and satisfaction|Ellie Krieger|February 11, 2021|Washington Post

In the office, that pressure wouldn’t be so intense because you’d be around loads of people who are doing the work with you.
‘Chronically understaffed’: Confessions of an agency exec on the cost of online advertising’s Covid growth|Seb Joseph|February 11, 2021|Digiday
He also was working to recruit Castro as a driver for a drug load.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“JSwipe is currently under heavy load,” flashed across the screen, one night as a friend and I looked at it.
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Today, the quaint spectacle of a stage-managed fairy-tale celebration strikes many of us as a load of garbage.
What Republicans Need Right Now Is a Good Internal Fight|James Poulos|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He would load his chair with groceries and other purchases, once a 30-roll package of toilet paper.
How Brooklyn’s First Ice Cream Girl Fought City Hall–and Won|Michael Daly|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Biden made many visits to Baghdad and no doubt get fed a load of bull about inclusion on each one.
Exposed: The White House’s Professor-in-Chief|Jonathan Alter|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But, as the keel of the boats touched bottom, each boat-load dashed into the water and then into the enemy's fire.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
Longcluse looked animated—smiling; but a stupendous load lay on his heart.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
He had come down after the wagon load, which had to be pitched on again rather more deliberately.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
Thus a straw rope enclosing twenty or more eggs, well protected, was made and thrown over the top of the load.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
A most comical sight was the cook, perched on top of his load of pans, pots, and potatoes.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike

British Dictionary definitions for load

load

/ (ləʊd) /

noun

something to be borne or conveyed; weight

the usual amount borne or conveyed
(in combination)a carload

something that weighs down, oppresses, or burdensthat's a load off my mind

a single charge of a firearm

the weight that is carried by a structureSee also dead load, live load

electrical engineering electronics

a device that receives or dissipates the power from an amplifier, oscillator, generator, or some other source of signals
the power delivered by a machine, generator, circuit, etc

the force acting on a component in a mechanism or structure

the resistance overcome by an engine or motor when it is driving a machine, etc

an external force applied to a component or mechanism

a load of informal a quantity ofa load of nonsense

get a load of informal pay attention to

have a load on US and Canadian slang to be intoxicated

shoot one's load slang (of a man) to ejaculate at orgasm

verb (mainly tr)

(also intr) to place or receive (cargo, goods, etc) upon (a ship, lorry, etc)

to burden or oppress

to supply or beset (someone) with in abundance or overwhelminglythey loaded her with gifts

to cause to be biasedto load a question

(also intr) to put an ammunition charge into (a firearm)

photog to position (a film, cartridge, or plate) in (a camera)

to weight or bias (a roulette wheel, dice, etc)

insurance to increase (a premium) to cover expenses, etc

to draw power from (an electrical device, such as a generator)

to add material of high atomic number to (concrete) to increase its effectiveness as a radiation shield

to increase the power output of (an electric circuit)

to increase the work required from (an engine or motor)

to apply force to (a mechanism or component)

computing to transfer (a program) to a memory

load the dice

to add weights to dice in order to bias them
to arrange to have a favourable or unfavourable position

Word Origin for load

Old English lād course; in meaning, influenced by lade 1; related to lead 1

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

Medical definitions for load

load

[ lōd ]

A departure from normal body content, as of water, salt, or heat. A positive load is a quantity in excess of the normal; a negative load is a deficit.

Scientific definitions for load

load

[ lōd ]

The resistance, weight, or power drain sustained by a machine or electrical circuit. Compare effort.

The power output of a generator or power plant.

The amount of a pathogen or toxic substance present in an organism.

Other Idioms and Phrases with load

load

In addition to the idioms beginning with load

loaded for bear
loaded question
load off one's feet
load off one's mind, a
load the dice

also see:

bricks shy of a load
carbo load
get a load of
take the load off

load

OTHER WORDS FOR load

OPPOSITES FOR load

Idioms about load

Origin of load

synonym study for load

OTHER WORDS FROM load

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH load

Words nearby load

Words related to load

How to use load in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for load

Word Origin for load

Medical definitions for load

Scientific definitions for load

Other Idioms and Phrases with load