load

[ lohd ]

/ loʊd /

noun

anything put in or on something for conveyance or transportation; freight; cargo: The truck carried a load of watermelons.

the quantity that can be or usually is carried at one time, as in a cart.

this quantity taken as a unit of measure or weight or a discrete quantity (usually used in combination): carload; wagonload.

the quantity borne or sustained by something; burden: a tree weighed down by its load of fruit.

the weight supported by a structure or part.

the amount of work assigned to or to be done by a person, team, department, machine, or mechanical system: a reasonable load of work.

something that weighs down or oppresses like a burden; onus: Supporting her younger brothers has been a heavy load for her.

loads, Informal. a great quantity or number: loads of fun; loads of people.

the charge for a firearm.

a commission charged to buyers of mutual-fund shares.

Engineering. any of the forces that a structure is calculated to oppose, comprising any unmoving and unvarying force (dead load), any load from wind or earthquake, and any other moving or temporary force (live load).

Electricity.

the power delivered by a generator, motor, power station, or transformer.
a device that receives power.

Mechanics. the external resistance overcome by an engine, dynamo, or the like, under given conditions, measured and expressed in terms of the power required.

Geology. the burden of sediment being carried by a stream or river. Compare bed load.

Slang. a sufficient amount of liquor drunk to cause intoxication: He's got a load on tonight.

verb (used with object)

to put a load on or in; fill: to load a ship.

to supply abundantly, lavishly, or excessively with something (often followed by down): They loaded us down with gifts.

to weigh down, burden, or oppress (often followed by down, with, on, etc.): to feel loaded down with responsibilities; to load oneself with obligations.

to insert a charge, projectile, etc., into (a firearm).

to place (film, tape, etc.) into a camera or other device: He loaded the film into the camera.

to place film, tape, etc., into (a camera or other device): How do you load this camera?

to take on as a load: a ship loading coal.

to add to the weight of, sometimes fraudulently: The silver candlesticks were loaded with lead.

Insurance. to increase (the net premium) by adding charges, as for expenses.

to add additional or prejudicial meaning to (a statement, question, etc.): The attorney kept loading his questions in the hope of getting the reply he wanted.

to overcharge (a word, expression, etc.) with extraneous values of emotion, sentiment, or the like: emotion that loads any reference to home, flag, and mother.

to weight (dice) so that they will always come to rest with particular faces upward.

Baseball. to have or put runners at (first, second, and third bases): They loaded the bases with two out in the eighth inning.

Fine Arts.

to place a large amount of pigment on (a brush).
to apply a thick layer of pigment to (a canvas).

Metalworking.

(of metal being deep-drawn) to become welded to (the drawing tool).
(of material being ground) to fill the depressions in the surface of (a grinding wheel).
(in powder metallurgy) to fill the cavity of (a die).

Computers.

to bring (a program or data) into main storage from external or auxiliary storage.
to place (an input/output medium) into an appropriate device, as by inserting a disk into a disk drive.

Electricity. to add (a power-absorbing device) to an electric circuit.

verb (used without object)

to put on or take on a load, as of passengers or goods: The bus usually loads at the side door.

to load a firearm.

to enter a carrier or conveyance (usually followed by into): The students loaded quickly into the buses.

to become filled or occupied: The ship loaded with people in only 15 minutes.

adverb

loads, Informal. very much; a great deal: Thanks loads. It would help loads if you sent some money.

Idioms for load

get a load of, Slang.

to look at; notice; observe.
to listen to with interest: Did you get a load of what she said?

load the dice, to put someone or something in a advantageous or disadvantageous position; affect or influence the result: Lack of sufficient education loaded the dice against him as a candidate for the job.

Origin of load

before 1000; Middle English lode (noun); orig. the same word as lode (Old English lād way, course, carrying); senses influenced by lade

SYNONYMS FOR load

7 weight, encumbrance.

16 lade.

18 weight, encumber.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR load ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR load

18 disburden.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR load ON THESAURUS.COM

synonym study for load

7. Load, burden referred originally to something placed on a person or animal or put into a vehicle for conveyance. Both load and burden are still used in this literal sense, though burden only infrequently, except in such fixed phrases as beast of burden and a ship of 1500 tons burden (carrying capacity). Both words have come to be used figuratively to refer to duties, cares, etc., that are oppressively heavy, and this is now the main meaning of burden : You have taken a load off my mind. Some children are a burden.

OTHER WORDS FROM load

load·less, adjective re·load, noun, verb un·der·load, verb (used with object)

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH load

load lode

Words nearby load

lo-cal, lo-fi, lo-res, loa loa, loach, load, load displacement, load factor, load fund, load line, load module

Example sentences from the Web for loads

In turn, always happy to save money, corporate America will no doubt reward Republicans with loads of campaign cash.

The GOP’s Latest Attempt to Fool Women Won’t Work |Sally Kohn |September 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Can you make it in a wide-open market in which consumers have loads of options?

Yes We Can Still Market: Why U.S. Brands Remain World’s Most Valuable |Daniel Gross |June 1, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
There is also a photo of a man sitting with a pistol in his lap as he loads an AK-47.

What’s More Obscene Than Rihanna’s Boobs? Instagram’s Kids With Guns |Michael Daly |May 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
And loads of top faculty around the country—loads—make more than Krugman will.

That’s All a Nobel Prize Winner Gets Paid? |Michael Tomasky |April 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Five hours and loads of frustration later, the bewildered psychologist gave up.

Teaching a Lesson to Bullies and Educators Alike |Moral Courage |February 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
And that night I drew out the loads of chicken shot from my gun and reloaded it with buckshot.

Vandemark's Folly |Herbert Quick
We returned to the loads, and, having picked them up, made a course to the east to intercept the other men.

The Home of the Blizzard |Douglas Mawson
The Uinkarets threw down their loads and squatted glum and silent.

A Canyon Voyage |Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
They brought the cauldron and the loads of wood, and very soon the King was boiling away.

The Blue Fairy Book |Various
Thus they "packed" the goods over the portage, their heads sustaining the loads, and their backs merely steadying them.

On Canada's Frontier |Julian Ralph

British Dictionary definitions for loads (1 of 2)

loads

/ (ləʊdz) informal /

pl n

(often foll by of) a lot loads to eat

adverb

(intensifier) loads better; thanks loads

British Dictionary definitions for loads (2 of 2)

load

/ (ləʊd) /

noun

something to be borne or conveyed; weight

the usual amount borne or conveyed
(in combination)a carload

something that weighs down, oppresses, or burdens that's a load off my mind

a single charge of a firearm

the weight that is carried by a structure See also dead load, live load

electrical engineering electronics

a device that receives or dissipates the power from an amplifier, oscillator, generator, or some other source of signals
the power delivered by a machine, generator, circuit, etc

the force acting on a component in a mechanism or structure

the resistance overcome by an engine or motor when it is driving a machine, etc

an external force applied to a component or mechanism

a load of informal a quantity of a load of nonsense

get a load of informal pay attention to

have a load on US and Canadian slang to be intoxicated

shoot one's load slang (of a man) to ejaculate at orgasm

verb (mainly tr)

(also intr) to place or receive (cargo, goods, etc) upon (a ship, lorry, etc)

to burden or oppress

to supply or beset (someone) with in abundance or overwhelmingly they loaded her with gifts

to cause to be biased to load a question

(also intr) to put an ammunition charge into (a firearm)

photog to position (a film, cartridge, or plate) in (a camera)

to weight or bias (a roulette wheel, dice, etc)

insurance to increase (a premium) to cover expenses, etc

to draw power from (an electrical device, such as a generator)

to add material of high atomic number to (concrete) to increase its effectiveness as a radiation shield

to increase the power output of (an electric circuit)

to increase the work required from (an engine or motor)

to apply force to (a mechanism or component)

computing to transfer (a program) to a memory

load the dice

to add weights to dice in order to bias them
to arrange to have a favourable or unfavourable position

Word Origin for load

Old English lād course; in meaning, influenced by lade 1; related to lead 1

Medical definitions for loads

load

[ lōd ]

n.

A departure from normal body content, as of water, salt, or heat. A positive load is a quantity in excess of the normal; a negative load is a deficit.

Scientific definitions for loads

load

[ lōd ]

The resistance, weight, or power drain sustained by a machine or electrical circuit. Compare effort.

The power output of a generator or power plant.

The amount of a pathogen or toxic substance present in an organism.

Idioms and Phrases with loads

load

In addition to the idioms beginning with load

loaded for bear
loaded question
load off one's feet
load off one's mind, a
load the dice

also see:

bricks shy of a load
carbo load
get a load of
take the load off

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

load