payload

noun

pay·​load ˈpā-ˌlōd 

plural payloads

1

: the load carried by a vehicle exclusive of what is necessary for its operation

especially : the load carried by an aircraft or spacecraft consisting of people or things (such as passengers or instruments) necessary to the purpose of the flight

… rockets carrying … a payload of Starlink satellites.

—Rick Neale

Their objective was to size the airplane according to its intended payload.

—Clive Irving

2

: the weight of a payload

… the Bronco had a payload of 2000 pounds.

—Darryl Young

Maximum fuel load is 3,550 pounds, leaving a payload of just 360 pounds with full tanks.

—J. Mac McClellan

3

: the destructive component carried by a missile or bomb

… they did not fail to realize that a missile powerful enough to put a satellite into orbit could also deliver a nuclear payload to Washington, D.C., or New York, or Chicago, or any major American city.

—Alex Wellerstein

also : something likened to such a payload

This vulnerability could be exploited to deploy a ransomware payload …

—Carly Page

Thus, a potential pitfall for using adenoviruses as a vaccine delivery system is that a person's immune system may end up responding more to the adenovirus itself than the vaccine's genetic payload …

—Beth Mole

Synonyms of payload

• cargo
• load
• loading
• burden

Examples of payload in a Sentence

The truck is carrying a payload of 2,580 pounds.

the space shuttle can carry a maximum payload of approximately 50,000 pounds

Recent Examples on the Web

Its 5kg payload and nearly 3ft reach provides ample capacity to handle any food task with ease. —Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

SpaceX additionally benefits from billions of dollars in contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense by providing launch services for classified satellites and other payloads. —Eric Lagatta, AZCentral.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Back then, America feared an armada of Soviet bombers laden with A-bombs barreling over the horizon, dodging our few anti-aircraft batteries, and dropping their deadly payloads on undefended American cities. —Barry Scott Zellen, Hartford Courant, 22 Jan. 2026

The Falcon's upper stage reached a preliminary orbit about nine minutes later and released its Starlink payload (known as Group 17-30) as scheduled, roughly an hour after launch. —Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for payload

• abode
• anode
• barcode
• bestowed
• boatload
• borrowed
• carload
• caseload
• cathode
• commode
• corrode
• crossroad

Kids Definition

payload

noun

pay·​load ˈpā-ˌlōd 

: something (as cargo, passengers, instruments, or explosives) carried by a vehicle in addition to what is necessary for its operation