# load

Pronunciation: say "LOHD" US /loʊd/, UK /ləʊd/

## Noun

1. A quantity of items or material transported or processed at one time, such as a batch of laundry washed together.
   - Simple: An amount of things carried or dealt with at one time, like one batch of washing.
   - _She ran three loads of laundry before lunch._
   - _Drivers haul a fresh load to the warehouse each afternoon._
4. A large quantity or number of something. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A very large number or amount of something.
   - _We still have a load of work to get through before Friday._
   - _They received loads of complaints about the noise._
5. A heavy thing that must be carried or supported, often regarded as a burden.
   - Simple: Something heavy that someone has to carry.
   - _The porters struggled under the load of supplies on the mountain trail._
   - _He shifted the load from one shoulder to the other._
8. The total amount of work that someone is required to perform.
   - Simple: The amount of work that someone has to do.
   - _The manager redistributed the load among the team._
   - _A teaching load of five classes left her exhausted._
9. The force applied to a structural element such as a beam, girder, or cable.
   - Simple: The force or weight pressing on a part of a structure like a beam.
   - _The cable snapped when the load exceeded its rated limit._
   - _Architects calculate the load each column must support._
10. The process of transferring something into memory or across a network, such as data or a program.
   - Simple: The act of moving data into memory or across a network.
   - _The initial load of the application brought in all the required modules._
   - _Compressing the images cut the app's load time in half._
17. A worry or concern that weighs on someone and must be endured.
   - Simple: A worry or trouble that you carry in your mind.
   - _Hearing the test was clear lifted a great load from her shoulders._
   - _He had carried that emotional load alone for far too long._
12. Combined with a noun for a vehicle to form a word meaning a large quantity, roughly what that vehicle can hold.
   - Simple: Added after a vehicle name to mean the amount that vehicle can hold.
   - _The farm received a cartload of manure for the fields._
   - _Volunteers brought a carload of canned goods to the shelter._
13. A circuit component that draws current or power from the supply.
   - Simple: A part of a circuit that uses up electric power.
   - _Engineers model each motor as a load on the circuit._
   - _A short circuit happens when current bypasses the load._
14. The amount of current or power that a device delivers.
   - Simple: The electric power or current that a device supplies.
   - _Engineers measured the load delivered by the transformer during peak hours._
   - _The power supply shut down when the load exceeded its rated output._
15. The resistive force that a machine or engine must work against while doing its job.
   - Simple: The force that pushes back against a machine doing work.
   - _The crane's motor stalled when the load became too great._
   - _Mechanics calculate the load an engine must overcome at full speed._
19. The measure of gunpowder used to charge a firearm, or a single cartridge or round ready to be fired.
   - Simple: The gunpowder and shot put into a gun, ready to fire.
   - _She measured each load of powder carefully before the shot._
   - _The soldier rammed a new load down the barrel._
21. The semen or fluid expelled in a single ejaculation. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The semen released during one ejaculation.
   - _He blew his load far sooner than he'd hoped._
   - _A used condom held the entire load._
22. An act of defecation, or the feces produced in one. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The solid waste passed in one trip to the bathroom.
   - _The puppy left a fresh load right by the front door._
   - _He hurried to the restroom to drop a load._

## Verb

2. To 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.
   - Simple: To put things into or onto a car, truck, ship, or container.
   - _Dockworkers loaded the cargo ship with grain through the night._
   - _The builder warned us not to load the old balcony with heavy stone planters._
3. To transfer a program or data from storage or a network into a computer's memory, or to be transferred in this way.
   - Simple: To put a program or data into a computer's memory so it can be used, or to open up.
   - _The operating system loads the driver during startup._
   - _Engineers load the firmware into the device's memory._
6. To provide something in large amounts, more than enough.
   - Simple: To give a lot of something, more than is needed.
   - _The host loaded every guest with parting gifts._
   - _Grandma will always load our plates with more food than we can possibly eat._
7. To fill a firearm or piece of artillery with ammunition, readying it to fire.
   - Simple: To put bullets or shells into a gun or cannon.
   - _The gunners loaded the cannon with a heavy iron shell._
   - _He learned to load a musket for the historical reenactment._
11. To put something a machine or device needs into it, such as film into a camera, paper into a printer, or fuel into a furnace.
   - Simple: To put something into a machine so it is ready to work.
   - _The photographer loaded a new reel into the projector._
   - _Remember to load staples into the stapler before the meeting._
18. To tamper with or word something so that it gives a biased or unfair result, as in loading dice or a question.
   - Simple: To change something secretly so it gives an unfair or wanted result.
   - _Reporters sometimes load a question to provoke a revealing reaction._
   - _The pollster loaded each item to nudge respondents toward the client's preferred view._
20. To burden someone or something with a negative thing, placing it as a hindrance.
   - Simple: To weigh someone or something down with something bad.
   - _Vague clauses load the borrower with unexpected obligations._
   - _The new rules loaded employers with extra paperwork._
16. In baseball, to fill first, second, and third base with runners, so that all three bases are occupied at once.
   - Simple: In baseball, to get runners onto first, second, and third base at the same time.
   - _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._

## Other meanings

- (verb) In the Philippines, to buy prepaid credit for a cell phone or to add more to the balance already on it.
- (noun) Any of several traditional units for a quantity of goods, such as hay, timber, or ore, varying with the material and place.
- (noun) Short for viral load, the amount of a virus present in a person's blood or body fluid.
- (noun) A tiny charge of explosive hidden in a cigarette or cigar as a practical joke, so that it bursts when smoked.
- (noun) The force or heaviness with which blows are struck.
- (noun) Talk or ideas regarded as foolish or worthless.
- (noun) Credit bought in advance for a prepaid mobile phone, used for calls, texts, and data.
- (verb) To make a walking stick, whip handle, or similar object heavier by filling it with lead or another dense material.
- (verb) To mix a drink or other substance with something cheaper or with a drug.
- (verb) To give iron or steel magnetic power.
- (noun) A 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.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/load (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).