LOAD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does load mean? 

• LOAD (noun)
  The noun LOAD has 9 senses:

1. weight to be borne or conveyed

2. a quantity that can be processed or transported at one time

3. goods carried by a large vehicle

4. an amount of alcohol sufficient to intoxicate

5. the power output of a generator or power plant

6. an onerous or difficult concern

7. a deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks

8. the front part of a guided missile or rocket or torpedo that carries the nuclear or explosive charge or the chemical or biological agents

9. electrical device to which electrical power is delivered

  Familiarity information: LOAD used as a noun is familiar.

• LOAD (verb)
  The verb LOAD has 5 senses:

1. fill or place a load on

2. provide (a device) with something necessary

3. transfer from a storage device to a computer's memory

4. put (something) on a structure or conveyance

5. corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

  Familiarity information: LOAD used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOAD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Weight to be borne or conveyed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

burden; load; loading

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

weight (an artifact that is heavy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "load"):

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)

burthen (a variant of 'burden')

Derivation:

load (fill or place a load on)

load (put (something) on a structure or conveyance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A quantity that can be processed or transported at one time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

load; loading

Context example:

the system broke down under excessive loads

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

indefinite quantity (an estimated quantity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "load"):

trainload (quantity that can be carried by a train)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Goods carried by a large vehicle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cargo; consignment; freight; lading; load; loading; payload; shipment

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

merchandise; product; ware (commodities offered for sale)

Derivation:

load (fill or place a load on)

load (put (something) on a structure or conveyance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An amount of alcohol sufficient to intoxicate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Context example:

he got a load on and started a brawl

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

indefinite quantity (an estimated quantity)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The power output of a generator or power plant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

electric power; electrical power; wattage (the product of voltage and current)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An onerous or difficult concern

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

burden; encumbrance; incumbrance; load; onus

Context example:

that's a load off my mind

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

concern; headache; vexation; worry (something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "load"):

pill (something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured)

imposition (an uncalled-for burden)

fardel (a burden (figuratively in the form of a bundle))

dead weight (an oppressive encumbrance)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

load; lode

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

alluviation; deposit; sedimentation (the phenomenon of sediment or gravel accumulating)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "load"):

champion lode; mother lode (the main vein of ore in a deposit)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The front part of a guided missile or rocket or torpedo that carries the nuclear or explosive charge or the chemical or biological agents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

load; payload; warhead

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

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

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "load"):

atomic warhead; nuclear warhead; nuke; thermonuclear warhead (the warhead of a missile designed to deliver an atom bomb)

Holonyms ("load" is a part of...):

guided missile (a rocket-propelled missile whose path can be controlled during flight either by radio signals or by internal homing devices)

Derivation:

load (provide (a device) with something necessary)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Electrical device to which electrical power is delivered

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("load" is a kind of...):

electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)

• LOAD (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill or place a load on

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

lade; laden; load; load up

Context example:

load the truck with hay

Hypernyms (to "load" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "load"):

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)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s something with something

Sentence example:

They load the cart with boxes

Derivation:

load (goods carried by a large vehicle)

load (weight to be borne or conveyed)

loader (a laborer who loads and unloads vessels in a port)

loading (the labor of putting a load of something on or in a vehicle or ship or container etc.)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide (a device) with something necessary

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

charge; load

Context example:

load the camera

Hypernyms (to "load" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "load"):

recharge; reload (load anew)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

load (the front part of a guided missile or rocket or torpedo that carries the nuclear or explosive charge or the chemical or biological agents)

loader (an attendant who loads guns for someone shooting game)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Transfer from a storage device to a computer's memory

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "load" is one way to...):

transfer (move from one place to another)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Put (something) on a structure or conveyance

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

load the bags onto the trucks

Hypernyms (to "load" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They load the books into the box

Derivation:

load (goods carried by a large vehicle)

load (weight to be borne or conveyed)

loader (a laborer who loads and unloads vessels in a port)

loading (the labor of putting a load of something on or in a vehicle or ship or container etc.)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

adulterate; debase; dilute; load; stretch

Context example:

adulterate liquor

Hypernyms (to "load" is one way to...):

corrupt; spoil (alter from the original)

Verb group:

extend; stretch (increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "load"):

water down (thin by adding water to)

doctor; doctor up; sophisticate (alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

The Mariposa was deeply loaded, and, hanging by his hands, his feet would be in the water.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A carriage heavily loaded with luggage has passed out during the last hour.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Exosomes loaded with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)-specific antigens, with potential immunostimulating and antineoplastic activities.

(NSCLC Antigen-Loaded Dendritic Cell-derived Exosomes, NCI Thesaurus)

The determination of the HBV viral load in a specimen.

(Hepatitis B Viral Load Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

I will give you my horse, and you shall give me the silver; which will save you a great deal of trouble in carrying such a heavy load about with you.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The determination of the HAV viral load in a specimen.

(Hepatitis A Viral Load Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

At first the little creatures, many though they were, could hardly stir the heavily loaded truck; but the Woodman and the Scarecrow both pushed from behind, and they got along better.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

I know, also, that they were all three away from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has been loading their cargo.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And though they were making poor time, the heavy load they dragged sapped their strength severely.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Soon after this the young man returned, bearing on his shoulders a load of wood.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)