cargo

noun

car·​go ˈkär-(ˌ)gō 

plural cargoes or cargos

: the goods or merchandise conveyed in a ship, airplane, or vehicle : freight

Dock workers were unloading the ship's cargo.

Synonyms of cargo

• payload
• burden
• loading
• load
• freight

Examples of cargo in a Sentence

The ship was carrying a cargo of crude oil.

we put all of our cargo on the pack animals and began our journey through the canyon

Recent Examples on the Web

Oil tankers and cargo vessels remain anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos on June 21, 2026 in Muscat, Oman. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 25 June 2026

At least two dry bulk ships and one cargo ship ​have sailed through Hormuz under the scheme in the past 12 hours, LSEG ship tracking data showed on Wednesday. — Reuters, NBC news, 24 June 2026

By the following spring, Allied aircraft were delivering as much cargo each day as had once arrived by rail. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 June 2026

As Musk has advertised numerous times in the past decade, Starship is also designed to drive down the cost of getting cargo to orbit by orders of magnitude — from a couple thousand dollars per kilogram to as little as $10 per kilogram. — Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 24 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, load, charge, from cargar to load, from Late Latin carricare — more at charge entry 1

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing cargo

• cargo cult
• cargo pants
• cargo pocket

Rhymes for cargo

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau

Kids Definition

cargo

noun

car·​go ˈkär-ˌgō 

plural cargoes or cargos

: the goods transported in a ship, airplane, or vehicle : freight