as in cargo
heavy material (such as rocks or water) that is put on a ship to make it steady or on a balloon to control its height in the air
—often used figuratively
A large amount of ballast kept the boat from capsizing. She provided the ballast the family needed in times of stress.
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Recent Examples of ballast
Each balloon has a bag of sand used as ballast; the balloon can release sand to rise higher or vent gas to descend to a different wind current.
—
IEEE Spectrum, 20 Oct. 2025
Their cars will be fitted with a ballast to compensate for the weight not gained in the absence of a vest.
—Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
But Stanfield in particular also serves as a moral compass, or at least a dose of common sense, offering ballast to the proceedings.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Oct. 2025
All of the turbine’s parts, among which its mooring cables, turbine gearboxes, and ballast control systems were reportedly designed and manufactured in China.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
IEEE Spectrum, 20 Oct. 2025
Their cars will be fitted with a ballast to compensate for the weight not gained in the absence of a vest.
—Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
But Stanfield in particular also serves as a moral compass, or at least a dose of common sense, offering ballast to the proceedings.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Oct. 2025
All of the turbine’s parts, among which its mooring cables, turbine gearboxes, and ballast control systems were reportedly designed and manufactured in China.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
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Three interior pockets keep everything organized, while the tote’s zip closure ensures your precious cargo stays secure.—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Jan. 2026
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Later that night, Pine visits the weapons site with his former hotel colleague and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who rig the cargo trucks with cell-phone detonating explosives.—
Jake Kring-Schreifels,
Time,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The onslaught had forced container shipping companies to sail around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to reach destinations in Europe, North America and South America, lengthening ocean freight transit times in many cases by one to two weeks.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
15 Jan. 2026
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That includes fewer tired drivers on overnight routes, more predictable freight movement and potentially safer highways over time.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Load the down coat into a front-load washer or a high-efficiency top-load washer without a center agitator for gentle agitation.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
14 Jan. 2026
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Over time, increase the repetitions using light weights, then gradually progress to heavier loads, Forsyth recommended.—
Allison Forsyth,
Health,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Excavators will support autonomous trenching, loading, grading, and related operations.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Jan. 2026
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For top-loading machines, never fill laundry past the agitator.—
Nafeesah Allen,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Unitree’s humanoids are powered by its proprietary AI models and feature quick-swappable batteries, depth perception systems, and payload capacities suitable for inspection and manipulation tasks.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Jan. 2026
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As an analysis by SpaceNews explains, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, one of the most affordable rides to space, charges customers about $2,500 per kilogram of payload.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Cargill built a large soybean-lading facility at Santarem, some 500 miles up the Amazon.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
4 Jan. 2026
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One example can be as simple as shipments that are missing bills of lading or origin documents.—
Forbes,
Forbes,
1 June 2021
Noun
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That connection is visible in rising antisemitic incidents and the daily security burdens borne by Jewish schools and synagogues.—
David Moore,
New York Daily News,
11 Jan. 2026
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Fraud and abuse are merely the cost of social progress, and empathy for the burden their agendas place on hard-working Marylanders is all but non-existent.—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Chinese shipyards accounted for 65% of global shipbuilding orders by deadweight tonnage during the first nine months of 2025, down from about 75% a year earlier, according to data from shipping services firm Clarksons cited by the South China Morning Post.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Dec. 2025
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The university that once promised to buoy scientific aspirations now feels like a deadweight.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballast. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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