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.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ballast
The installation incorporates robust mooring systems, wave breakers and ballast anchors to ensure stability in varying conditions.
—
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2025
And bonds typically offer ballast during stock market routs.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Stronger ballast water regulations developed through the agency’s research have helped prevent new invasions in the Great Lakes.
—Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 28 Feb. 2025
Without sufficient ballast, its word balloons threaten to float charmingly away.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2025
And bonds typically offer ballast during stock market routs.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Stronger ballast water regulations developed through the agency’s research have helped prevent new invasions in the Great Lakes.
—Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 28 Feb. 2025
Without sufficient ballast, its word balloons threaten to float charmingly away.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
-
Yamasa spun off its gambling device business in 2020 and today focuses its core enterprise on plane and cargo ship leasing, solar farms, and the American rental market.—
Jaime Moore-Carrillo,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 May 2025
-
Unfortunately, the Planetary Alliance gang insist on treating Murderbot like one of the team, inviting it to ride in their transport vehicle (instead of the cargo bay, where SecUnits usually travel) and giving it a crew uniform to wear when its armor is damaged.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
12 May 2025
Noun
-
Trucking was just emerging from a three-year freight recession brought on by the pandemic.—
Robert Ferris,
CNBC,
16 May 2025
-
Shorter logistics chains cut freight expenses, shrink working-capital needs, and reduce scope-3 emissions.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
Being at an all-inclusive resort helped ease my mental load, which often becomes overwhelming.—
Elizabeth Ayoola,
Essence,
16 May 2025
-
In Singapore, a skyscraper adapts to monsoon winds, shifting the HVAC load to avoid structural strain.—
Dan Drogman,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
There’s a small receiving room for customers to pick up or drop off bottles and a loading dock for the larger orders.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
10 May 2025
-
The Naugatuck train station is a small plexiglass box with a single bench, a lone dot in the expanse of the concrete parking lot, just across from the loading dock of a post office.—
Ginny Monk,
Hartford Courant,
10 May 2025
Noun
-
SpaceX's Starship, with roughly 10 times more payload lift capacity than Neutron, is also on contract with AFRL for demonstrations for the Rocket Cargo program.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 May 2025
-
Neutron is Electron's medium-lift successor, built for larger payloads and national security missions.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
9 May 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
-
Benson is opposed to adding new burdens to the front end of registration for millions of voters.—
Miles Parks,
NPR,
17 May 2025
-
Now, with the Blue Jays’ lineup averaging 5.15 runs per game in May, the burden on their rotation should be lighter.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
Losing that 200 pounds of deadweight has freed me up to focus on advancing my career.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Apr. 2025
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Losing that 200 pounds of deadweight freed me up to focus on advancing my career.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
6 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballast. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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