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
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
The declaration leaves the teams and drivers with two options — wear the cooling vest or carry more ballast in their car.
—Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
That may well be called prescience, but without more dramatic ballast, whether or not Family’s rage was ahead of its time becomes a less compelling question.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
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
The declaration leaves the teams and drivers with two options — wear the cooling vest or carry more ballast in their car.
—Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
That may well be called prescience, but without more dramatic ballast, whether or not Family’s rage was ahead of its time becomes a less compelling question.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
-
The Air Force's largest military cargo aircraft was used to lift an amphibious screw tractor to the site to help with ice removal.—
Virginia Chamlee,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The longer the shutdown lasts, the greater the risk of cargo backups at these Texas ports due to unpaid employees calling in sick.—
The NPR Network,
NPR,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Union Pacific, a freight rail company, is accused of violating California law after train cars spilled tons of coal last year into the Sierra Nevada’s largest river.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Investigators believe the group arrived in a truck equipped with a freight lift, which two men used to reach the museum’s window before fleeing on scooters to eastern Paris, where other vehicles were waiting.—
Barney Henderson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Kerr, who played for Popovich in San Antonio at the end of his career and has a strong relationship with his former coach, was asked about load management in the context of a prominent former teammate criticizing the concept.—
Nick Friedell,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Built to last, the 2020 model features a new roof design that boasts up to 90 pounds per square foot of snow load.—
Gabriela Izquierdo,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Ditch the 'Proper' Washer Loading Order Another laundry rule that is outdated because of changes to our washing machines is the proper loading order—which used to be water first, then detergent, and finally clothes.—
Jolie Kerr,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Nov. 2025
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Captain Peter Pulcer oversaw the crew from 1966 to 1972, a time when the ship broke many of its loading records.—
Caitlin Looby,
jsonline.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Zhang, 39, is a payload specialist and a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Researchers have developed a new algorithm that can help multiple drones work together to control and transport heavy payloads.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
One example can be as simple as shipments that are missing bills of lading or origin documents.—
Forbes,
Forbes,
1 June 2021
-
According to bills of lading and other records provided to the San Antonio Express-News by officials at 23 food banks, CRE8AD8 delivered about 147,000 boxes total to food banks.—
Tom Orsborn,
ExpressNews.com,
1 July 2020
Noun
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That brings China’s current tariff burden down from about 57 percent to around 47 percent.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
30 Oct. 2025
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Earlier this month, lawmakers in the state tasked by DeWine with finding a solution to the heavy property tax burden shouldered by Ohio homeowners came up with 20 different proposals.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The university that once promised to buoy scientific aspirations now feels like a deadweight.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The project reportedly took place at the COSCO Zhoushan shipyard in China’s Putuo District, on Grand Pioneer, a 325,000 deadweight-ton very large ore carrier (VLOC) operated by the Taiwanese company.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballast. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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