as in cargoes
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.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballasts
Noun
-
The show opened with capri-style cargos, shredded denim, nylon bombers, and denim spliced and tied every which way.—
Roxanne Robinson,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025 -
China has designated the Guangxi Province port as its primary hub for handling Arctic LNG 2 cargoes, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
It’s finished in a beautiful coat of light green and has loads of chrome trim and a black roof.—
Bryan Hood,
Robb Report,
12 Sep. 2025
-
There’s a lot of tradesmen, but songwriters… There’s not loads of them.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
However, the current crop of general-purpose humanoids tends to target moderate loads, similar to an average person, because higher payloads complicate balance and actuator sizing.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Sep. 2025
-
SpaceDOTS has developed sensing payloads that can be placed on satellites to capture this data directly.—
Lisa Falco,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
To maintain comparability, the weights assigned to these criteria have been held constant.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
-
On top of that, a gallery rail system easily accommodates different frame sizes, shapes, weights, and thicknesses, which allows for ultra-layered, completely unique arrangements.—
Lauren Bengtson,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The impact will likely be uneven, with benefits and burdens distributed differently across regions and roles.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Financial services firms juggle unique regulatory burdens, customer expectations and reputational risk.—
Christer Holloman,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Between the 2022 and 2023 drafts, the 49ers made 18 selections.—
Dianna Russini,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Summarize research on leadership best practices Generate drafts of communications, development plans, or role-play scenarios.—
Laurel Donnellan,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Ballasts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballasts. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share