1
as in discharging
to empty or rid of cargo
the dockworkers unloaded the ship
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
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
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Recent Examples of unloading
Someone invents the shipping container to make loading and unloading cargo at ports faster and easier.
—
Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Previously, my husband and I would take turns unloading the dishwasher.
—Tessa Cooper, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2026
On Tuesday, the coyote bit a young child twice in front of their home as family members were unloading their car.
—Chelsea Hylton, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
According to the Carson station, the child was bitten twice while family members were unloading a vehicle.
—Paris Barraza, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Satellite imagery showed cargo ships unloading vehicles directly onto a beach via ramps, with at least 330 vehicles visible on and near the shore.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2026
The aircraft includes both front and rear access doors, allowing faster turnaround during loading and unloading operations.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 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.
—Dylan Butts, CNBC, 30 Mar. 2026
The shooter and his pals passed the gun to each other in a bedroom, loading and unloading the ammo, prosecutors say.
—Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2026
Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Previously, my husband and I would take turns unloading the dishwasher.
—Tessa Cooper, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2026
On Tuesday, the coyote bit a young child twice in front of their home as family members were unloading their car.
—Chelsea Hylton, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
According to the Carson station, the child was bitten twice while family members were unloading a vehicle.
—Paris Barraza, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Satellite imagery showed cargo ships unloading vehicles directly onto a beach via ramps, with at least 330 vehicles visible on and near the shore.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2026
The aircraft includes both front and rear access doors, allowing faster turnaround during loading and unloading operations.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 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.
—Dylan Butts, CNBC, 30 Mar. 2026
The shooter and his pals passed the gun to each other in a bedroom, loading and unloading the ammo, prosecutors say.
—Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unloading
Verb
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David Carrasquillo, 24, of Roxbury, is charged with three counts of assault and battery attempt with a firearm and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The system uses a multi-vote command architecture that requires several internal checks before firing, including a safeguard that prevents the laser from discharging if a civilian aircraft overlaps with the beam path.—
Munis Raza,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Surveillance video captured just after 10 AM Sunday near Donn Eisele Park shows a woman carrying a box and dumping at least five kittens onto the ground.—
Chelsea Jones,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
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Within moments, icy water began crashing over the gunwale, causing the boat to flip like a toy — and dumping the three occupants into the dark, shockingly cold water.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Her first psychological thriller was the 2014 best-seller Dead Med, which follows a med student unpacking the tragic and mysterious deaths of her classmates.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Keita Design’s young woodworkers use sustainable practices to create unique pieces, keeping natural imperfections and warps instead of discarding them as waste.—
Lisa Boone,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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Rex Heuermann answered preliminary questions before admitting to killing eight women and discarding their bodies at Gilgo Beach over more than a decade.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Officers set up a perimeter and began evacuating the people who lived nearby.—
Chelsea Hylton,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
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The company has been evacuating staff since the Iran war broke out and the latest evacuation efforts were pre-planned, TASS added.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN Money,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Kansas City is ditching a city code that long required new development to include a certain amount of parking space, which helped turn a significant portion of the city’s usable land into surface-level parking lots.—
Dylan Lysen,
Kansas City Star,
10 Apr. 2026
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The video comes just days after Hudson pulled off a subtle hair transformation, ditching her boho waves for something sleeker.—
Chanel Vargas,
InStyle,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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McIlroy at least steadied himself after losing the lead.—
Doug Ferguson,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Apr. 2026
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The overwhelming grief of losing a child became even worse when a detective gave her a notebook from Audree’s locker.—
Meena Duerson,
CNN Money,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Anthropic has raised concerns over students off-loading cognitive work to AI systems, and OpenAI has acknowledged that dependence on AI tools more generally is a problem.—
Lila Shroff,
The Atlantic,
1 Dec. 2025
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The canister was still wedged in my crotch, off-loading its contents like a homemade Roman candle.—
Charlie Sheen,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Unloading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unloading. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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