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

Timothée Chalamet heads to the beach in Miami in a casually stylish look of a Nahmias cap, Supreme x Wu-Tang Clan RZA T-shirt and cargo shorts on April 17. —Katie Hill, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026

Iranian forces on Saturday fired on a tanker and cargo ship in the sea lane, a day after declaring the sea lane open to commercial traffic. —Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2026

British maritime monitors confirmed the incidents, describing one cargo ship left disabled in the water and another that took heavy damage to its bridge. —Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026

After the Touska was seized on Sunday, analysts said it would be searched and its cargo checked. —Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 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