load

/loʊd/

/ləʊd/

Other forms: loaded; loading; loads

A load is a bundle of stuff that has to be carried. You might spend your days hauling loads of hay into a barn and your evenings dragging loads of dirty clothes into the laundry room.

Loads need to be picked up and hauled somewhere, like a load of firewood in a pickup truck or a load of supplies in a hiker's backpack. There are figurative loads too — the responsibility, hardship, or worry that you carry around with you: "Her teaching load is light, which is good because her sick cat is a heavy load on her mind." As a verb, load means "fill," like when you load your lunch box with Twinkies.

Definitions of load

1. noun

   weight to be borne or conveyed
   synonyms: burden, loading

   types:

   burthen

   a variant of `burden'

   dead load

   a constant load on a structure (e.g. a bridge) due to the weight of the supported structure itself

   live load, superload

   a variable load on a structure (e.g. a bridge) such as moving traffic

   millstone

   any load that is difficult to carry

   overburden, overload

   an excessive burden

   overload

   an electrical load that exceeds the available electrical power

   type of:

   weight

   an artifact that is heavy
2. noun

   goods carried by a large vehicle
   synonyms: cargo, consignment, freight, lading, loading, payload, shipment

   type of:

   merchandise, product, ware

   commodities offered for sale
3. noun

   a quantity that can be processed or transported at one time
   “the system broke down under excessive loads”

   synonyms: loading

   types:

   trainload

   quantity that can be carried by a train

   type of:

   indefinite quantity

   an estimated quantity
4. noun

   an onerous or difficult concern
   “that's a load off my mind”

   synonyms: burden, encumbrance, incumbrance, onus

   types:

   dead weight

   an oppressive encumbrance

   fardel

   a burden (figuratively in the form of a bundle)

   imposition

   an uncalled-for burden

   pill

   something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured

   type of:

   concern, headache, vexation, worry

   something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness
5. verb

   fill or place a load on
   “load a car”

   “load the truck with hay”

   synonyms: lade, laden, load up

   types:

   load down, pack

   load with a pack

   bomb up

   load an aircraft with bombs

   overcharge, overload, surcharge

   place too much a load on

   reload

   place a new load on

   stack

   load or cover with stacks

   type of:

   fill, fill up, make full

   make full, also in a metaphorical sense
6. verb

   put (something) on a structure or conveyance
   “load the bags onto the trucks”

   type of:

   lay, place, pose, position, put, set

   put into a certain place or abstract location
7. verb

   provide (a device) with something necessary
   “He loaded his gun carefully”

   “load the camera”

   synonyms: charge

   types:

   recharge, reload

   load anew

   type of:

   fill, fill up, make full

   make full, also in a metaphorical sense
8. verb

   transfer from a storage device to a computer's memory
   type of:

   transfer

   move from one place to another
9. noun

   electrical device to which electrical power is delivered
   type of:

   electrical device

   a device that produces or is powered by electricity
10. noun

    the power output of a generator or power plant
    type of:

    electric power, electrical power, wattage

    the product of voltage and current
11. noun

    a deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks
    synonyms: lode

    types:

    champion lode, mother lode

    the main vein of ore in a deposit

    type of:

    alluviation, deposit, sedimentation

    the phenomenon of sediment or gravel accumulating
12. noun

    an amount of alcohol sufficient to intoxicate
    “he got a load on and started a brawl”

    type of:

    indefinite quantity

    an estimated quantity
13. noun

    the front part of a guided missile or rocket or torpedo that carries the nuclear or explosive charge or the chemical or biological agents
    synonyms: payload, warhead

    types:

    atomic warhead, nuclear warhead, nuke, thermonuclear warhead

    the warhead of a missile designed to deliver an atom bomb

    type of:

    explosive

    a chemical substance that undergoes a rapid chemical change (with the production of gas) on being heated or struck
14. verb

    corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones
    synonyms: adulterate, debase, dilute, stretch

    extend, stretch

    increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance

    types:

    water down

    thin by adding water to

    doctor, doctor up, sophisticate

    alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive

    type of:

    corrupt, spoil

    alter from the original