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.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ballasts
Cheaper options or knock-offs tend to come with flimsy sockets, buzzing ballasts, or unreliable switches, which can make rooms look cheap or dated far sooner than expected and even create fire hazards.
—
Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Oct. 2025
Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballasts
Noun
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Iranian exporters often transfer cargoes between shadow fleet vessels—at times with the aid of tugboats—in the Persian Gulf and in waters off the coast of Singapore and Malaysia in order to disguise the origin of their cargoes.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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Designer Hillary Taymour sent voluminous denim cargos with peplum at the waist down the runway.—
Footwear News,
Footwear News,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But, at a moment when big narrative audio studios are shuttering, loads of people are being laid off and fewer documentary series are being made, this sentence really struck a nerve in the industry of folks who produce, write, edit and sound design longform narrative audio.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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That could mean co-locating with renewables, using batteries to extend solar availability, or making data centers flexible enough to shift heavy compute loads to periods of abundant clean power.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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However, arms control agreements limit current loadings to four or five.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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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
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While the details remain classified, the goal is to build and launch a network of hundreds of spy satellites—or maybe more—with specialized intelligence payloads into low earth orbit.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Roser also recommends wearing these vests for moves where having weights in your hands is challenging, such as side lunges, side squats, and sumo squats.—
Jessie Quinn,
Flow Space,
7 Nov. 2025
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Honda will position batteries on the platform around the center of vehicles instead of at the rear, and adjust load-bearing for different vehicle weights using fewer unique parts.—
Daniel Leussink,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Conclusion Electric roads offer a transformative approach to decarbonizing transport and reducing battery burdens.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Nov. 2025
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Since 1980, countries have signed more than 2,600 bilateral and multilateral investment treaties that protect investors from national expropriation, trade discrimination, and undue regulatory burdens.—
JESSICA F. GREEN,
Foreign Affairs,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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That’e one out of 43 from six drafts.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
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Meanwhile, Raiders fans are already looking ahead to 2026 mock drafts.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballasts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballasts. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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