load
the quantity that can be or usually is carried at one time, as in a cart: The maximum load for a wagon that size is only about 70 pounds.
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; workload: An additional intern or assistant might lighten the load for the current staff on this project.
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, projectile, etc., 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.
to put a load on or in; fill: to load a ship.
to insert a charge, projectile, etc., into (a firearm).
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 place (film, tape, etc.) into a camera or other device: He’s the employee responsible for loading and threading the film into the projector.
to place film, tape, etc., into (a camera or other device): The camera operator loaded the film magazine for the shoot, watched by the impatient director of photography.
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 make (an aspect of a program or website) visible, audible, playable, or otherwise executable: Your character is stuck in elevators between levels while the game loads the next world.
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.
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.
Computers. to make an aspect of a program or website visible, audible, playable, or otherwise executable: Is your operating system to blame if your browser is loading slow?
Computers. of or relating to the process of making an aspect of a program or website visible, audible, playable, or otherwise executable: The page load time was affecting ad revenue.Players have complained about texture load issues, but this should be addressed in the next patch.
loads, Informal. very much; a great deal: Thanks loads.It would help loads if you sent some money.
Idioms about load
get a load of, Slang.
to listen to with interest: Did you get a load of what she said?
load the dice, to put someone or something in an 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
1synonym study For load
Other words for load
Opposites for load
Other words from load
- load·less, adjective
- re·load, noun, verb
- un·der·load, verb (used with object)
Words that may be confused with load
- load , lode
Words Nearby load
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
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 PostTwice 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 PostIf 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.
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 PostIn 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 | THE DAILY BEAST“JSwipe is currently under heavy load,” flashed across the screen, one night as a friend and I looked at it.
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 | THE DAILY BEASTHe 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 | THE DAILY BEASTBiden made many visits to Baghdad and no doubt get fed a load of bull about inclusion on each one.
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 HamiltonLongcluse looked animated—smiling; but a stupendous load lay on his heart.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuHe 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; | VariousThus 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. PikeA 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
/ (ləʊd) /
something to be borne or conveyed; weight
the usual amount borne or conveyed
(in combination): a carload
something that weighs down, oppresses, or burdens: that's a load off my mind
a single charge of a firearm
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 of: a 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
(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 overwhelmingly: they loaded her with gifts
to cause to be biased: to 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
Origin of load
1- See also loads
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
Scientific definitions for 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with 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
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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