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
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
Wealthy individuals often view these assets as the ballast of their portfolios.
—Jaime Catmull, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The Heat has discussed this option, but to this point has leaned toward keeping Rozier to see if his salary (and expiring contract) can be used as cap ballast in a trade if a pricey standout player becomes available closer to the February trade deadline.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Wearing the right clothing, Freud said to Moss, can provide a powerful psychological ballast.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
Wealthy individuals often view these assets as the ballast of their portfolios.
—Jaime Catmull, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The Heat has discussed this option, but to this point has leaned toward keeping Rozier to see if his salary (and expiring contract) can be used as cap ballast in a trade if a pricey standout player becomes available closer to the February trade deadline.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
Wearing the right clothing, Freud said to Moss, can provide a powerful psychological ballast.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
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This resolution before the International Maritime Organization will impose a carbon tax on cargo and cruise ships that carry $20 trillion of merchandise over international waters.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
16 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.—
NPR,
NPR,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
From there, the artworks were shuffled all at once to a freight elevator, and then moved into the exhibition hall, which can be seen on video surveillance.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
17 Oct. 2025
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All the works were moved in a single, continuous movement from the van to a freight elevator that took all the transportation company employees at once from floor -1 to floor 1, the center said.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Frank’s selection decisions since he was appointed at Spurs suggest load management has been at the forefront of his mind.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
-
That’s a heavy load to balance — on top of a slew of symbols and metaphors.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In its second week, Tortured Poets moved roughly 100,000 more units that Showgirl has here, which may have more to do with Swift front-loading the number of album variants on offer for this LP’s rollout than anything else.—
Katie Atkinson,
Billboard,
21 Oct. 2025
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Before its departure, the ship conducted dummy Tomahawk missile-loading training at Yokosuka Naval Base, just south of Tokyo at the mouth of Tokyo Bay.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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SpaceX additionally benefits from billions of dollars in contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense by providing launch services for classified satellites and other payloads.—
Eric Lagatta,
AZCentral.com,
21 Oct. 2025
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Thanks to its dual-axle setup, the UH18 has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) and can carry a total payload of 4,500 lb (2,040 kg).—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
One example can be as simple as shipments that are missing bills of lading or origin documents.—
Forbes,
Forbes,
1 June 2021
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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
-
Let this take some of the burden off of you.—
Kat McGowan,
NPR,
18 Oct. 2025
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The cost burden is pushed instead to families, who often find the prospects too pricey.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
17 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
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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 23 Oct. 2025.
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