load

¹load

noun \ˈlōd\

Definition of LOAD

1

a : the quantity that can be carried at one time by a specified means; especially : a measured quantity of a commodity fixed for each type of carrier —often used in combination <a boatload of tourists> b : whatever is put on a person or pack animal to be carried : pack c : whatever is put in a ship or vehicle or airplane for conveyance : cargo; especially : a quantity of material assembled or packed as a shipping unit

2

a : a mass or weight supported by something <branches bent low by their load of fruit> b : the forces to which a structure is subjected due to superposed weight or to wind pressure on the vertical surfaces; broadly : the forces to which a given object is subjected

3

a : something that weighs down the mind or spirits <took a load off her mind> b : a burdensome or laborious responsibility <always carried his share of the load>

4

slang : an intoxicating amount of liquor drunk

5

: a large quantity : lot —usually used in plural

6

a : a charge for a firearm b : the quantity of material loaded into a device at one time

7

: external resistance overcome by a machine or prime mover

8

a : power output (as of a power plant) or power consumption (as by a device) b : a device to which power is delivered

9

a (1) : the amount of work that a person carries or is expected to carry (2) : the amount of authorized work to be performed by a machine, a group, a department, or a factory b : the demand on the operating resources of a system (as a telephone exchange or a refrigerating apparatus)

10

slang : eyeful —used in the phrase get a load of

11

: the amount of a deleterious microorganism, parasite, growth, or substance present in a human or animal body <measure viral load in the blood> <the worm load in rats> —called also burden

12

: an amount added (as to the price of a security or the net premium in insurance) to represent selling expense and profit to the distributor

13

: genetic load

Examples of LOAD

1. He lifted the load onto his shoulders.
2. She was carrying a heavy load of legal documents in her briefcase.
3. He picked up a load of firewood and carried it into the house.
4. The truck was carrying a full load of sand.
5. Losing weight will lessen the load on your knees.
6. His death is a heavy load to bear.

Origin of LOAD

Middle English lod, from Old English lād support, carrying — more at lode

First Known Use: 12th century

Related to LOAD

Synonyms: burden, cargo, draft, freight, haul, lading, loading, payload, weight

Antonyms: ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace

Related Words: consignment; boatload, carload, shipload, trainload, truckload, wagonload; ballast, deadweight; overload, surcharge; bale, bundle, pack, package, packet, parcel, shipment; manifest; body, bulk, mass

Near Antonyms: atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit; smatter, smattering; dash, drop, morsel, shot; piece, portion, section; absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want; deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

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Other Civil Engineering Terms

asphalt, ballast, barrage, cantilever, infrastructure, sluice

Rhymes with LOAD

bode, bowed, code, goad, lode, mode, node, ode, road, rode, toad, toed, woad