shipload

noun

ship·​load ˈship-ˈlōd 

-ˌlōd

1

: as much or as many as will fill or load a ship

2

: an indefinitely large amount or number

Synonyms

• abundance
• barrel
• basketful
• boatload
• bucket
• bunch
• bundle
• bushel
• carload
• chunk
• deal
• dozen
• fistful
• gobs
• good deal
• heap
• hundred
• lashings [chiefly British]
• lashins
• loads
• lot
• mass
• mess
• mountain
• much
• multiplicity
• myriad
• oodles
• pack
• passel
• peck
• pile
• plateful
• plenitude
• plentitude
• plenty
• pot
• potful
• profusion
• quantity
• raft
• reams
• scads
• sheaf
• sight
• slew
• spate
• stack
• store
• ton
• truckload
• volume
• wad
• wealth
• yard

Examples of shipload in a Sentence

Shiploads of settlers came to the New World.

it must have taken a shipload of money to build that mansion

Recent Examples on the Web

In exchange for hundreds of Iranian drones and shiploads of ammunition, Russia has provided Iran with political support, cash, and Western technology captured on the Ukrainian battlefield. —Eric Brewer, Foreign Affairs, 9 June 2023

The story goes that a German submarine sank a vessel carrying an uninsured shipload of his goods, putting an end to that trading venture. —Clara Hernanz Lizarraga, Fortune Europe, 25 Apr. 2024

Charles Edward Trevelyan, a top treasury official, curtailed the government’s subsidized food distribution program, even at one point rejecting a shipload of corn. —Richard Grant, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Sep. 2023

Advertisement Jump to 2019, when a shipload of archaeologists, ice experts, engineers and masters of several other disciplines set out to find the Endurance. —Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1639, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

shipload

noun

ship·​load -ˈlōd 

-ˌlōd

: as much or as many as a ship will hold

a shipload of corn

shiploads of immigrants