load
Pluralloads
Pluralloads
- 1A quantity of items or material transported or processed at one time, such as a batch of laundry washed together.
She ran three loads of laundry before lunch.
Drivers haul a fresh load to the warehouse each afternoon.
UsageUsually a load of something: a load of cotton; do a load of laundry.
Similarbatch, consignment, shipment, cargo, lot
- 2To put goods, cargo, or weight into or onto a vehicle, container, or surface; also, of a vehicle, to take on cargo, or of goods, to be put aboard.
Dockworkers loaded the cargo ship with grain through the night.
The builder warned us not to load the old balcony with heavy stone planters.
UsageTwo patterns: load grain onto a ship, or load a ship with grain.
- 3To transfer a program or data from storage or a network into a computer's memory, or to be transferred in this way.
The operating system loads the driver during startup.
Engineers load the firmware into the device's memory.
UsageWorks with or without an object: the system loads a driver; the page loads slowly.
Oppositeunload
Note
Computing borrowed the cargo image. Data is carried off a storage medium and set down in memory, where a program can work with it. The act itself has its own noun, the noun for the process.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Loading transfers stored data into computer memory for processing. en.wiktionary.org
- 4A large quantity or number of something.
We still have a load of work to get through before Friday.
They received loads of complaints about the noise.
UsageLoads of or a load of + noun: loads of complaints, a load of work. Formal writing prefers a great many or a large amount.
Similarlot, heap, abundance, boatload, bucketload
- 5A heavy thing that must be carried or supported, often regarded as a burden.
The porters struggled under the load of supplies on the mountain trail.
He shifted the load from one shoulder to the other.
UsageOften a heavy load; people carry, shift or struggle under a load.
Similarburden, weight, cargo, pack
Note
The burden sense began as a side meaning. In Middle English, lode chiefly meant "way, course, journey." The burden sense arose alongside it in the 13th century. The word itself goes back to Old English lād, which covered leading and carrying as well as roads and waterways. The shift was probably helped by the unrelated verb lade.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The burden sense developed as a secondary meaning. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English lode chiefly meant way, course or journey. en.wiktionary.org
- The burden sense arose in the thirteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
- Load descends from Old English lād, whose meanings included leading, carrying, ways and waterways. en.wiktionary.org
- 6To provide something in large amounts, more than enough.
The host loaded every guest with parting gifts.
Grandma will always load our plates with more food than we can possibly eat.
UsageLoad someone or something with plenty: loaded every guest with gifts, load our plates with food.
- 7
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- 9The force applied to a structural element such as a beam, girder, or cable.
The cable snapped when the load exceeded its rated limit.
Architects calculate the load each column must support.
Similarweight, stress, force, pressure
Note
In engineering the word stops naming the thing carried and names the force it exerts. That is why it is stated in newtons and qualified by direction: a tensile load pulls on a member, as on a cross-member rated for 1,000 newtons. Everyday speech says a beam carries the everyday burden; the engineer says the beam withstands a load and checks that figure against the member's limit.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- A structural load is a force applied to a structural element. en.wikipedia.org
- Force has magnitude and direction. openstax.org
- Newtons are appropriate units for a force rating. The 1,000-newton rating is an illustrative example, with no particular real member identified. openstax.org
- A tensile load pulls on a member. openstax.org
- 10The process of transferring something into memory or across a network, such as data or a program.
The initial load of the application brought in all the required modules.
Compressing the images cut the app's load time in half.
UsageCommon in compounds: load time, page load.
Similartransfer
Note
Programmers use the noun at two scales. On the web it is the whole fetch of a page, the page load that uncompressed images slow down. Inside a processor it is a single instruction: Daniel Page's A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture (2009) describes a load operation whose value becomes valid only some cycles after it seems to have run. The act itself is loading data into memory.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Daniel Page wrote A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture. link.springer.com
- The book was first published in 2009; the publisher identifies this as edition 1. link.springer.com
- Page's book describes a delayed load whose value becomes valid some cycles after the load appears to have executed; Wiktionary reproduces the passage and attributes it to page 614. en.wiktionary.org
- 11To put something a machine or device needs into it, such as film into a camera, paper into a printer, or fuel into a furnace.
The photographer loaded a new reel into the projector.
Remember to load staples into the stapler before the meeting.
UsageTwo patterns: load film into a camera, or load a camera with film.
- 12Combined with a noun for a vehicle to form a word meaning a large quantity, roughly what that vehicle can hold.
The farm received a cartload of manure for the fields.
Volunteers brought a carload of canned goods to the shelter.
UsageWritten as one word: a truckload of goods, two truckloads of goods, a boatload of complaints.
Similarbusload
Note
The vehicle sets the scale, but often only loosely. A boatload of complaints need not fill a boat, so the form also serves as a vivid way to say "a great deal."
- 13A circuit component that draws current or power from the supply.
Engineers model each motor as a load on the circuit.
A short circuit happens when current bypasses the load.
Note
Electricians use this word for whatever sits at the receiving end of a circuit, such as a motor, a lamp or a resistor. A load takes power rather than supplying it. Loads may be specified by resistance (a 24-ohm load) or by power rating and are connected across a supply's output terminals. Keep it distinct from the power delivered. Here the word names the component, not the current or power it draws.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- A load receives power from a supply; examples include motors, lamps and resistors. burkelab.com
- Resistance is one possible specification. Appliance loads commonly carry wattage ratings, so resistance should not be presented as the usual specification for loads generally. The illustrative 24-ohm value is unobjectionable. electricalsafety.qld.gov.au
- Loads are connected across a supply's output terminals. uhv.cheme.cmu.edu
- 14The amount of current or power that a device delivers.
Engineers measured the load delivered by the transformer during peak hours.
The power supply shut down when the load exceeded its rated output.
Note
Electrical engineers use the word in two ways, and context sorts them. Here it is an amount: the current or power a device must supply, which rises and falls and can run too high, as with the load on a transformer. In the component that draws power it is a thing wired into the circuit. This sense takes "the load on"; that one takes "a load" or "a second load."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Electrical load can denote an amount of current or power supplied. uploads.westernenergy.org
- A transformer's load can vary and exceed its capacity. electrical-installation.org
- An electrical load can also be a component connected to a circuit that consumes power. eia.gov
- 15The resistive force that a machine or engine must work against while doing its job.
The crane's motor stalled when the load became too great.
Mechanics calculate the load an engine must overcome at full speed.
Similarresistance, drag
Note
This is the machine's side of the bargain: the resistance an engine or motor must overcome while it works. The structural force presses on a beam that stays still, whereas this load opposes motion. It sets how much power the prime mover has to develop, and a motor stalls when the load grows too great for it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Mechanical load includes resistance that a motor must overcome to move its driven equipment. blog.orientalmotor.com
- A structural load can act on a stationary beam. edshare.gcu.ac.uk
- The resistive mechanical load described here opposes motion. openstax.org
- The load determines the required mechanical power at a given operating speed. openstax.org
- A motor stalls if the load exceeds the torque it can develop. www1.eere.energy.gov
- 16In baseball, to fill first, second, and third base with runners, so that all three bases are occupied at once.
With two outs, the catcher drew a walk to load the bases for the cleanup hitter.
The visitors loaded the bases in the eighth inning but never managed to score.
UsageThe object is usually the bases, often as a participle: with the bases loaded, a bases-loaded double.
Similarfill
Note
With every base filled, each runner must advance when the batter reaches base, which is why a walk forces in a run and a home run becomes a grand slam.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- With the bases loaded, the batter becoming a runner forces each existing runner to advance. content.mlb.com
- A walk with the bases loaded forces in a run. en.wikipedia.org
- A home run with the bases loaded is a grand slam. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 17A worry or concern that weighs on someone and must be endured.
Hearing the test was clear lifted a great load from her shoulders.
He had carried that emotional load alone for far too long.
UsageSet phrase: a load off your mind, said with relief when a worry goes. A load is usually lifted or taken off.
Similarburden, weight, strain, pressure
Note
Here the weight moves from the back to the mind, and the figure is an old one. Dryden writes "Our life's a load" in 1700, and Coldplay's Green Eyes (2002) sings of a load eased by meeting someone.
- 18To tamper with or word something so that it gives a biased or unfair result, as in loading dice or a question.
Reporters sometimes load a question to provoke a revealing reaction.
The pollster loaded each item to nudge respondents toward the client's preferred view.
UsageCommon phrases include a loaded question and loaded dice.
- 19The measure of gunpowder used to charge a firearm, or a single cartridge or round ready to be fired.
She measured each load of powder carefully before the shot.
The soldier rammed a new load down the barrel.
Similarcharge, round, cartridge
Note
The ammunition sense covers both a measured charge of powder and a finished cartridge. In Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Return of Tarzan (1913), a man "looked to its loads" before seeing that his rifle's magazine was full; there the plural counts the rounds in the gun. The noun pairs with the verb for readying a gun.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote The Return of Tarzan. en.wikisource.org
- The narrative says a man "looked to its loads" and saw that his rifle's magazine was full. gutenberg.net.au
- 20To burden someone or something with a negative thing, placing it as a hindrance.
Vague clauses load the borrower with unexpected obligations.
The new rules loaded employers with extra paperwork.
UsageTwo patterns: load a company with debt, or load debt onto it. Often passive: loaded with debt.
Similarburden, saddle, encumber, weigh, lumber
Oppositerelieve, free, unburden
Note
What is loaded here is unwelcome, such as debt, obligations or paperwork. That separates it from loading in abundance, where the supply is generous rather than a hindrance.
- 21The semen or fluid expelled in a single ejaculation.
He blew his load far sooner than he'd hoped.
A used condom held the entire load.
UsageUsual verbs: blow, shoot, or dump a load.
Similarwad
Note
It belongs to frank talk and erotic fiction; John Patrick's Barely Legal and John Butler's Wanderlust (2009) both use it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- John Butler's Wanderlust uses load in the ejaculation sense. en.wiktionary.org
- 22An act of defecation, or the feces produced in one.
The puppy left a fresh load right by the front door.
He hurried to the restroom to drop a load.
Note
The noun's everyday meanings (a cargo, a batch, a large amount) are so common that a casual "drop a load" or "dump a load" can land as a joke whether or not one was intended.
- 23In the Philippines, to buy prepaid credit for a cell phone or to add more to the balance already on it.
- 24Any of several traditional units for a quantity of goods, such as hay, timber, or ore, varying with the material and place.
- 25Short for viral load, the amount of a virus present in a person's blood or body fluid.
- 26A tiny charge of explosive hidden in a cigarette or cigar as a practical joke, so that it bursts when smoked.
- 27The force or heaviness with which blows are struck.
Far heavier load thyself expect to feel From my prevailing arm
1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost - 28Talk or ideas regarded as foolish or worthless.
- 29Credit bought in advance for a prepaid mobile phone, used for calls, texts, and data.
- 30To make a walking stick, whip handle, or similar object heavier by filling it with lead or another dense material.
- 31To mix a drink or other substance with something cheaper or with a drug.
- 32To give iron or steel magnetic power.
one oscillation of the loaded magnet,
1877, Charles A. Schott, Notes on Measurements of Terre Arial Magnetism - 33A user who never logs off an online service, a term from late-1980s Q-Link and early AOL, where free accounts left connected cost the company dearly.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Middle English lode mainly meant "way, course, journey," and in the 13th century it picked up a second sense, "burden." Lode came from Old English lād, whose senses included "course, journey, way, carrying, support," and that goes back to Proto-Germanic *laidō and to *leyt-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to go, go forth." German Leite, Swedish led, and Icelandic leið are cognates, and lode is a doublet. The "burden" sense most likely developed through confusion with lade, a verb of unrelated origin, and the verb load is first recorded in the 16th century.