UNLOADING Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

unloading

verb

present participle of unload

as in discharging

to empty or rid of cargo the dockworkers unloaded the ship

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in dumping

to get rid of as useless or unwanted I can't seem to unload this old car—even the charities won't take it!

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 unloading The soccer coach was unloading balls from his vehicle in the alley behind his home when Wilson, wearing a mask, confronted him with a semiautomatic handgun that had a laser pointer. — Julie Hanson, CBS News, 13 July 2026 Their jobs involve unloading raw sugar arriving by ship at the C&H Sugar facility in Crockett. — Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 9 July 2026 Cleveland has one or two roster moves to make to be able to pay James $15 million next season instead — unloading Max Strus and Dennis Schröder — but hasn’t done either yet. — Tony Jones, New York Times, 7 July 2026 This picture taken on March 26, 2026 shows an oil tanker unloading crude oil at a port in Yantai, in China's eastern Shandong province. — Justina Lee, CNBC, 6 July 2026 Crews have been seen unloading equipment from trucks this week — much of it covered or obscured — and barricades have been placed near the perimeter of the arena. — Meriam Bouarrouj, NBC news, 4 July 2026 The streets have been shut down around the venue, with trucks unloading equipment for the most anticipated wedding in recent memory. — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 3 July 2026 Frenzied speculation around the wedding has built for weeks, intensifying in recent days as crews have been seen unloading equipment from trucks, including a large carpet. — Jake Offenhartz, Fortune, 2 July 2026 Additionally, on Monday, June 29, Page Six and TMZ reported that multiple trucks were seen unloading equipment at Madison Square Garden. — Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 2 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unloading

Verb

Lithium batteries in general are capable of discharging a greater percentage of their full capacity without any negative effects, commonly offering usable capacities of 80% or more.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 10 July 2026
Electric-vehicle owners and operators face concerns that repeated charging and discharging of a battery could accelerate battery degradation, and that use of V2G could void a battery warranty.

— Lisa Baertlein, USA Today, 6 July 2026

Definition of discharging

Verb

The proposal makes the case for Miami-Dade generating some revenue from unused land that’s mostly used by people parking illegally or dumping trash.

— Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 10 July 2026
The Red Bull variety opens even more than Ferrari’s — dumping extra drag for a straight line speed gain.

— Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 7 July 2026

Definition of dumping

Verb

Tijssen then led guests on a walkthrough of the installations, unpacking how artificial intelligence, sound design and generative visuals work together to keep the show’s audiovisual landscape in constant flux.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 July 2026
There are also many active travelers who relish packing and unpacking just once.

— Larry Olmsted, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026

Definition of unpacking

Verb

But with military flyovers continuing, some attendees stopped in their tracks to take pictures of ongoing flyovers instead of evacuating.

— Nicholas Kerr, ABC News, 4 July 2026
Ground robots are hauling ammunition, evacuating wounded troops, laying mines, and increasingly carrying weapons into combat as Ukraine tries to replace as many frontline tasks as possible with machines.

— David Kirichenko, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

Definition of evacuating

Verb

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been recovering their rockets since 2015, saving vast amounts of money by recycling them rather than ditching them after liftoff.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
This season, The Invite actress is ditching sandals for the polished, rich-looking penny loafers she’s been sporting on repeat.

— Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 7 July 2026

Definition of ditching

Verb

Following quickly on the heels of spinning off Versant Media earlier this year, Comcast is now off-loading the entirety of NBCUniversal.

— Howard Homonoff, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Off-loading tasks such as writing code might result in cognitive atrophy over the long term, and that is problematic in itself, but off-loading ethical decisions will result in an atrophy of moral reasoning, which is worse.

— Ted Chiang, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026

Definition of off-loading

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unloaded

unloading

unloads

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“Unloading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unloading. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of unloading

verb

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