freight

1 of 2

noun

often attributive
1
a
: the compensation paid for the transportation of goods
b
: cost
help pay the freight
2
a
: goods to be shipped : cargo
The freight arrived by steamboat.
b
: load, burden
The man staggered under a freight of small logs in a basket.
c
: meaning sense 3, significance
words that carry psychological freight, such as "family," "work," and "sex"
3
a
: the ordinary transportation of goods by a common carrier and distinguished from express
b
: a train designed or used for such transportation
an eastbound freight

freight

2 of 2

verb

freighted; freighting; freights

transitive verb

1
a
: to load with goods for transportation
b
: burden, charge
freighted with memories
2
: to transport or ship by freight

Examples of freight in a Sentence

Noun trains that carry both passengers and freight The freight arrived by steamboat. The order was shipped by freight. Verb it took six hours to freight the cargo airplane
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Peter Finn — president of the Teamsters Joint Council 7, a union that represents freight and delivery truck drivers — said the commission’s decision comes less than a month after Waymo issued a recall because of a software issue. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2024 Completion of the wall is intended to allow regular passenger and freight service to resume. Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024 Both were rebuilt quickly because Fort Worth was a rail hub for both passenger and freight. Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Feb. 2024 Once at the end of the railway now forming New York’s High Line, St. John’s Terminal served as a freight facility and office space. Christy Choi, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024 Federal funding pays for Amtrak's operations and maintenance, but not track, which is owned and operated by private freight rail companies, including Union Pacific. Maritza Dominguez, The Arizona Republic, 23 Feb. 2024 The political dysfunction has offered no comfort to the roughly 4,700 residents of East Palestine, a town near the Pennsylvania border crisscrossed by freight lines. Tony Romm, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2024 During construction, train delays — for commuter and freight service — are expected, but the San Juan Creek Bridge will remain open and operational until the new structure is finished. Annika Bahnsen, Orange County Register, 31 Jan. 2024 Asia remains at the forefront of maritime freight, with its ports handling about 42% of the world’s goods, according to the UNCTAD. Frank Holmes, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
Verb
The movie came freighted with exposition, along with lengthy monologues and much stirring oration. Glenn Whipp, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2024 At the same time, the infinity of available emoji has freighted other pictures with occult significance. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2024 Adam’s silence can seem sweetly companionable one moment and freighted with trauma the next. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023 But right off the bat, the fragmented approach is freighted with a cumbersome framing device. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 The actual kidnapping doesn’t occur until two-thirds through the film, a narrative decision that both gives us time to understand the rhythms of Umut’s daily life and also freights even the most cheerful early scenes with a sense of gathering dread. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 11 Oct. 2023 That approach means the movie is freighted with exposition, along with lengthy monologues and much stirring oration. Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023 Rarely has an overseas presidential expedition been so uncertain even in its itinerary at the time of takeoff, and so freighted with jeopardy both political and physical. Peter Baker, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2023 In a conflict already freighted with allegations of war crimes, a strike on a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday has divided opinion, set back hopes for a diplomatic end to fighting and deepened global anguish over the prospect of more civilian deaths. Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'freight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English freghte, freight, freyte, freythe "transport of goods, charge for transportation, cargo of a ship," borrowed from Middle Dutch vrecht "cargo, charge for transport," going back to West Germanic *fraihti-, probably "what is given over or consigned to someone" (whence also Old Frisian fracht, frecht "charge for freight," Middle Low German vracht [vrecht- in vrechtman "consigner of a cargo"], Old High German frêht "reward, recompense") from *fra- "away, off" (going back to Indo-European *pro-) + Germanic *aihti- "property, possession" (whence Old English ǣht "possession, [in plural] property, goods," Old Saxon ēht "property," Old Icelandic ætt, átt "kindred, pedigree," Gothic aihtins [accusative plural] "property"), derivative, with the abstract noun suffix *-ti-, from the base of *aigan "to possess" — more at for entry 1, owe

Note: Compare fraught entry 2 and see note there.

Verb

Middle English freighten, derivative of freghte, freight freight entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of freight was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near freight

Cite this Entry

“Freight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freight. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

freight

1 of 2 noun
1
: the amount paid (as to a shipping company) for carrying goods
2
a
: goods or cargo carried by ship, train, truck, or airplane
b
: the carrying of goods from one place to another by vehicle
ship the order by freight
3
: a train that carries freight

freight

2 of 2 verb
1
: to load for transportation
2
: to ship by freight

More from Merriam-Webster on freight

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