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
Rick Neale Their objective was to size the airplane according to its intended payload. —Clive Irving
Clive Irving 2
: the weight of a payload
… the Bronco had a payload of 2000 pounds.—Darryl Young
Darryl YoungMaximum fuel load is 3,550 pounds, leaving a payload of just 360 pounds with full tanks.—J. Mac McClellan
J. Mac McClellan3
: 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
Alex Wellerstein
also
: something likened to such a payload
This vulnerability could be exploited to deploy a ransomware payload … —Carly Page
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
Beth Mole 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 upper stage vehicle carrying the payload fairing will continue in space, helping to send NASA's twin ESCAPADE satellites to Mars.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
The mission will deliver scientific, technological and cultural payloads to the surface.
—Christina Mayo, Miami Herald, 12 Nov. 2025
Thus far, Russian air defenses have been able to defeat up to 95 percent of Ukrainian drones, and given the small payload of the Ukrainian munitions, only around half the drones that reach a target have actually done meaningful damage.
—Jack Watling, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2025
The 38-foot-long aircraft, with a modular design, can fly more than 2,300 miles, deliver fighter-like performance, and enhance intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and tactical early warning missions by fusing sensor and payload data from multiple platforms.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for payload
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Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
The mission will deliver scientific, technological and cultural payloads to the surface.
—Christina Mayo, Miami Herald, 12 Nov. 2025
Thus far, Russian air defenses have been able to defeat up to 95 percent of Ukrainian drones, and given the small payload of the Ukrainian munitions, only around half the drones that reach a target have actually done meaningful damage.
—Jack Watling, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2025
The 38-foot-long aircraft, with a modular design, can fly more than 2,300 miles, deliver fighter-like performance, and enhance intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and tactical early warning missions by fusing sensor and payload data from multiple platforms.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for payload
Cite this Entry
“Payload.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/payload. Accessed 22 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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