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.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of ballast
MasterCraft boats can take in a range of ballast, depending on model and design–up to 4,300 pounds (1,950 kg).
—
New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2025
Draining all water, including from the lower outboard unit, ballast, live-well, buckets, and anything else that holds water.
—Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Dividend-paying stocks may offer ballast in times of market volatility, even when equities are climbing higher.
—Michelle Fox, CNBC, 8 July 2025
One where balance sheets build and their brand finds ballast.
—Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 22 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2025
Draining all water, including from the lower outboard unit, ballast, live-well, buckets, and anything else that holds water.
—Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Dividend-paying stocks may offer ballast in times of market volatility, even when equities are climbing higher.
—Michelle Fox, CNBC, 8 July 2025
One where balance sheets build and their brand finds ballast.
—Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 22 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
-
Artemis cargo landers will deliver equipment to sites along the moon’s polar highlands, while crew members will complete daily sample retrieval runs.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
4 Sep. 2025
-
They are most commonly used to transport people and cargo up steep inclines.—
Catherine Nicholls,
CNN Money,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The shipper provided the freight forwarder with information about the shipment, including contents, value, destination and recipient, according to the document.—
Christina Hall,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
-
The Federal Railroad Administration said that the biggest railroads that deliver more than 90% of the nation’s freight have all been audited on a regular basis.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The franchise catcher has been load-managed for the sake of keeping him to this point in the season without dealing with a nagging injury.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Reportedly, moments later, a tractor-trailer hauling a load of sugar reportedly slammed into the van, ejecting her from the vehicle and pinning her underneath.—
Amber Corrine,
VIBE.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The fire continues to spread aided by heavy fuel loading and topographic features, with areas of elevated winds seeing moderate to high fire activity.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Dynamic pricing for commercial loading, on-demand delivery, and pick-up/ drop-off zones can generate revenue while aligning with broader goals like congestion reduction and safety.—
Regina Clewlow,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
While drones, which use TNT for their payload, are the most visible weapons in the war, artillery continues to be used decisively around the clock.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Analysts say Pyongyang’s focus now appears to be on refining payload capacity and survivability to ensure its arsenal can evade US and allied missile defenses.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Sep. 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
-
This burden of additional responsibilities and emotional labor with less resources lead many women to feel helpless, leaving divorce as the only escape.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
-
And if your thoughtful request isn’t well received, that’s not your burden.—
Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott,
Southern Living,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Next comes some fancy piloting, the detachment of the thrusters, and then the scavenger ship is effectively so much deadweight in space, at least for now.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
14 Aug. 2025
-
That was the point where Sunderland began to fall off the Premier League cliff-edge, and Ndong was a deadweight to hasten their demise.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballast. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share