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

The mission comes after SpaceX launched Transporter-14 at the end of June, which carried 70 total payloads to orbit, including the remains of 166 individuals for a memorial spaceflight. —Eric Lagatta, AZCentral.com, 25 Nov. 2025

Depending on its payload, it is estimated to be capable of traveling up to 6,460 miles, placing Hawaii, Alaska, and much of the continental United States within range. —Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025

Longshot, an aerospace technology start-up founded in 2021, is developing a launch system to shoot payloads, such as satellites, into Earth’s low orbit. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Nov. 2025

Sceye also recently won a contract from NASA to host Earth-observation payloads. —Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 24 Nov. 2025

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