unload
Americanverb (used with object)
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unloads,
present (3rd person singular)
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unloaded,
past participle, past
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unloading
present participle
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to take the load from; remove the cargo or freight from.
to unload a truck; to unload a cart.
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to remove or discharge (a load, group of people, etc.).
to unload passengers.
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to remove the charge from (a firearm).
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to relieve of anything burdensome, oppressive, etc..
He unloaded his responsibilities.
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to get rid of (goods, shares of stock, etc.) by sale in large quantities.
verb (used without object)
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unloads,
present (3rd person singular)
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unloaded,
past participle, past
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unloading
present participle
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to unload something.
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Informal. to relieve one's stress by talking, confessing, or the like.
verb
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to remove a load or cargo from (a ship, lorry, etc)
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to discharge (cargo, freight, etc)
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(tr) to relieve of a burden or troubles
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(tr) to give vent to (anxiety, troubles, etc)
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(tr) to get rid of or dispose of (esp surplus goods)
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(tr) to remove the charge of ammunition from (a firearm)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unloadsimple
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unloadssimple
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have unloadedperfect
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has unloadedperfect
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am unloadingprogressive
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are unloadingprogressive
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is unloadingprogressive
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have been unloadingperfect progressive
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has been unloadingperfect progressive
Past
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unloadedsimple
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had unloadedperfect
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was unloadingprogressive
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were unloadingprogressive
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had been unloadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unload
Explanation
To unload is to remove cargo from a vehicle or shipping carton. Unload can also mean to discharge or get rid of something, or to get something off your chest. A clothing store might unload (remove) a hundred cartons from the delivery truck, and then unload (unpack) shirts and pants from the cartons. If a carton of clothes is imperfect, the store might send them back or unload (dispossess themselves of) them by selling them cheaply to a factory-seconds outlet. Then the store manager, depending on her mood, might unload on (give a tongue-lashing to) the manufacturer for shipping shoddy products.
Vocabulary lists containing unload
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:
“We still need people that unload trailers,” said Montgomery, adding that overall sales growth could require as many warehouse workers as today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
My wife and I recently struggled trying to unload roughly 100 rock, pop, Broadway, soundtracks, classical, comedy and children’s albums that we don’t plan to bring to our new home.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The company is considering moving tort liabilities into a separate corporate entity to unload them through a sale to an outside investor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Roebuck unlocked his workshop, and Oxford helped him unload the equipment.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
He was visiting the capital while on leave, or so he modestly explained as he helped unload their luggage from the cab.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
She enters a spotless kitchen, unloads a bag of groceries, and unwraps a frozen pizza before sliding it in the oven.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
He hauls buckets of feed into the back of his ATV and unloads them in a pen crowded with cattle that outweigh him many times over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
The crypto selloff has deepened as Wall Street unloads risk-on assets amid concerns over the stretched valuations of artificial-intelligence stocks.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025
At his current job, where he unloads merchandise packaged by machinery, Ramirez said he often feels like he’s suffocating, his chest hurts and he sweats particularly near forklifts and other equipment that generate heat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
The madness and despair of many hours unloads itself in this outburst.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
The pallets will be organized so store workers can pull them to a single aisle, and the items can be unloaded in the order they are stocked on shelves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Nopakorn Hansanant, a San Francisco-based sales associate, invested in bitcoin and ether during the pandemic but eventually unloaded his entire position in 2021 after finding them too volatile and difficult to understand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
He added that California law requires people carrying handguns into and out of the store to keep them in a locked container and for handguns and long guns to be unloaded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
During the call, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes unloaded on the agency.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
Before they could rest, Shackleton ordered the boat unloaded and beached.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
It also met Jordan’s wish list of requirements: It has a bathtub and in-unit laundry and is on the first floor, making her loading and unloading of work supplies easier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Some of the most popular new technologies were designed to take over the least desirable jobs in warehouses, tasks that require physical labor like loading and unloading trucks or picking merchandise for online orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
A spokesperson said staff followed the correct procedure in unloading the waste as soon as they became aware of the fire.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The smell of rubbish hangs heavy in the air as pickup trucks and handcarts crawl through narrow alleyways, unloading the day's collections while children weave between them chasing footballs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Groups of young men—mostly immigrants, a few blacks—roamed the docks, looking for jobs as cooks and sailors on ships, or work as stevedores loading and unloading goods on the docks.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
