load line

SEE SYNONYMS FOR load line ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Nautical.

Also called Plimsoll line. any of various lines marked on the sides of a cargo vessel to indicate the depth to which a vessel may be immersed under certain conditions. Compare freeboard(def 1a).
the line made by the surface of the water on the hull of a loaded ship.

Origin of load line

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby load line

loach, load, load displacement, load factor, load fund, load line, load module, load off one's feet, load off one's mind, a, load shedding, load the dice

Example sentences from the Web for load line

  • Load-line, line painted on the outside of a vessel to mark the extreme of immersion in loading her with a cargo.

    The Nuttall Encyclopaedia |Edited by Rev. James Wood

British Dictionary definitions for load line

load line

noun

nautical a pattern of lines painted on the hull of a ship, approximately midway between the bow and the stern, indicating the various levels that the waterline should reach if the ship is properly loaded under given circumstances