1A heavy or bulky thing that is being carried or is about to be carried.

1. 1.1 The total number or amount that can be carried in something, especially a vehicle of a specified type.
   a tractor-trailer load of new appliances

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He sells records by the lorry load - and commuters in the capital are falling over buskers on every street corner.
   • Approximately 120 bags and 10 trailer loads of rubbish were collected and removed by Waterford Co Council.
   • Yes you could, but we've got a shed load of business process stuff in Public Folders.
   • Note: the list has been restricted to a half container load to minimise costs.
   • Since she exports artefacts by the container load, she often negotiate contracts with local artists, a year or more in advance.
   • The biotechnology company has, through a number of well-timed share placements, bucket loads of money.
   • Full-service Asian airlines operated wide-bodied aircraft which could carry a full cargo load.
   • Some have a couple of shipping container loads dragging at their heels.
   • Park staff took away four tandem trailer loads of rubbish, he said.
2. 1.2 An amount of items washed or to be washed in a washing machine or dishwasher at one time.
   I do at least six loads of washing a week

   Example sentencesExamples

   • By the time Oliver's been fed, had his nappy changed, and I've done a load or two of washing in the morning it's time to start the feeding and changing routine all over again.
   • In general, washing one large load is more efficient than washing two small loads.
   • Wash and dry full laundry loads and use your dishwasher's air dry cycle.
   • Wearing a bra with visible straps when bra used to be white but has clearly been washed in a colours load is wrong.
   • That's when you've doing a wash of heavier weight garments and the load in the washing machine slips all to one side during the spin cycle - becomes unbalanced, you see.
   • No experienced home launderer actually washes twelve or more loads instead of four.
   • Switching off the TV at night instead of leaving it on standby, saving the weekly wash until you've got a full load, and only boiling as much water as you need, can all save money.
   • Water saving tips include washing the car with a bucket instead of a hose, ensuring washing machines and dishwashers have a full load, and turning off the tap while brushing teeth.
   • To conserve water and energy, wait until you have a full load before running your dishwasher or washing machine.
   • Your clothes are in the dryer - I didn't think you'd want them washed in the same load.
   • If not, wash a load and watch for where water leakage occurs.
   • I got two loads of laundry done (must remember to get the second load out of the dryer when I get home).
   • While it probably won't stain other shirts in the wash load, it will fade, and fairly quickly.
   • Wash only full loads in the dishwasher, or handwash dishes with a basin of soapy water and a basin of clear rinse water.
   • If you are washing a small load, use the appropriate water-level setting.
   • It could wash big loads, yet used a skimpy 16 gallons of water - 28 gallons less per load than a conventional washer.
   • Finally, when I got up to go get a book to read while the load was washing, I opened the door.
   • I don't know why I don't just do a load when I accumulate enough but I'd guess it has something to do with my natural tendency to procrastinate.
   • Wait until you have a full load before using a dishwasher or washing machine.
   • Never mind that it takes me two hours to hang out four loads of washing, not including folding and ironing time and I usually do about 12 to 16 loads per week.
3. 1.3 The material carried along by a stream, glacier, ocean current, etc.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Extension of these subsidence patterns beyond 305 Ma depends on how far northwards the orogenic load advanced.
   • In the Ebro basin, flexure of the crust was produced mainly by the Pyrenean load, but also by the emergent thrust sheet of the Aragonese Branch.
   • Another possible explanation for the tilting is the waxing and waning of ice sheet loads.
   • These may be examples of a flood event that carried everything from trees to tiny seeds downstream until water levels receded and the load was dropped and deposited.
   • Both types of channels periodically deposit their sediment load as lobes onto the axial channel belt where it is reworked.
   • Furthermore, we found that the number, amplitude and spacing of such flow folds depends on the history of the load driving the extrusion.
   • Likewise, the bulk of the sediment load was transported directly to the sea, limiting the deposition of sediment on the deltaic plain.
   • Rivers carry their greatest sediment loads during the few days or weeks when stream flow and turbulence are greatest.
   • The position of the orogenic load during the Late Carboniferous is poorly constrained.
   • Grass buffer zones or vegetative filter strips have been investigated as a means of reducing nutrient loads in streams.
   • A significant prediction from the forward model is the spatial evolution of the orogenic load in SW England, summarized in Fig.6.
   • Although some of the sediment load transported by the Axios River was deposited on the deltaic plain during floods, the greater proportion was discharged into the Thermaikos Gulf.
   • Foreland migration of the basin edge was related to foreland-directed migration of the orogenic load.
   • Tertiary sediments cause subsidence of the basin substrata 2.3 km below sea level, as a result of the sediment load.
   • Some of the sediment load was trapped within the meanders, forming extended point-bars.
   • Subsidence rates in foreland basins decrease away from the orogenic load, and are generally higher than those in extensional basins.

2A weight or source of pressure borne by someone or something.

1. 2.1 The amount of work to be done by a person or machine.
   Arthur has a light teaching load

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This is a mammoth task by any criteria, and the more hands there are the lighter the work load for each individual.
   • In the absence of any fresh recruitment in the banks and a substantial increase in the volume of business, the work load on the employees and the officers had also increased.
   • For example, it would lessen the load on the teachers from the supervision standpoint by cutting down a break and thereby cutting down the school day.
   • One officer may sleep if the work load is light, while the other monitors the flight.
   • She indicated that the government strategy had been to agree to the raise in exchange for not filling open vacancies and increasing the work load on the remaining workers.
   • They take full course loads, work part-time, contribute to the campus community, and still have time for a life outside of it all!
   • Teachers had sought the change because increased workloads, teaching demands and administration loads have made the job intolerable.
   • During this time, teaching loads at many American institutions were high, usually four courses per term.
   • Hope your homework load has gotten lighter… and hope you do get to sleep!
   • My teaching load is spread across four departments at two universities at the moment.
   • Harmon negotiated a university contract for two thirds time, which reduced his teaching load and allows him to get a lot of work done during the summer.
   • For many professional hosting services, sub domains are hosted on different machines to reduce the load on individual servers.
   • It will create a light load on the CPU while serving the most requests possible.
   • His teaching load amounted to little at first, so he had plenty of opportunity to develop further programs outside the university.
   • To control the load on each machine, a script is run which increases the nice level of each process the longer it executes.
   • This has resulted in increased teaching loads, and less courses being offered.
   • But most lament that they are unable due to work loads and pressures from bosses.
   • But looking at the potential load on the server, here are some numbers with that.
   • He appealed for more members to help out on various committees and so lesson the load on directors and staff, if only a few hours per month.
   • When a college student plans his first three years right, his senior year can be spent taking light course loads - and lighter courses.
2. 2.2 A burden of responsibility, worry, or grief.
   consumers will find it difficult to service their heavy load of debt

   Example sentencesExamples

   • You carry a heavy load, and this has weighed you down with all the horrors that humanity has to offer.
   • The debt was a heavy load on the part of the Government whose leaders were spending sleepless nights thinking about ways and means of overcoming the problem.
   • It concludes that since military service is a burden, moral considerations require that the load be shared as equally as possible.
   • In other words, we should all individually carry what is our everyday load or responsibility, but where it becomes too heavy for us, we all join in and share the burden.
   • At the same time the other officers said they would share the load and take a lot of the responsibility off Jerry's shoulders.
   • Alicia's fervent hope was that her love and support would make his painful load easier to bear.
   • Being the caretaker of the blues is a heavy load to carry and admittedly Guy can't do it on his own.
   • Academia remains too strong a lure but with over three years left on her study roll, will twin aspirations prove too burdensome a load?

   Synonyms

   commitment, responsibility, duty, obligation, onus, charge, weight

3a load/loadsinformal A lot of (often used to express one's disapproval or dislike of something)

1. 3.1a load/loads Plenty.
   she spends loads of money on clothes

   there's loads to see here, even when it rains

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I've been really efficient this weekend and cleared loads of things off my to do list as well.
   • And no there wasn't just one ticket counter there were loads.
   • I imagine when I go into college tomorrow, loads of people will be quoting it like mad.
   • There is a petition going around to get the back gate opened and loads of people have already signed.
   • So, I made loads of notes of my grievances to take into my appraisal meeting this morning.
   • This bush has got loads of flowers and even more buds ready to flower, we've no idea what it is yet but we love it.
   • We've got loads of ideas for things we want to do, but would welcome other good suggestions.
   • When I took her back to school there were loads of children with their hair painted red or green.
   • We have schools programmes, online services and loads more.
   • There's loads to go through, it just takes so long to do!
   • She was the best daughter anyone could have - she was a lovely kid with loads of friends.
   • We marvelled at the centre, which has clearly had loads of money pumped into it.
   • There are loads of alcohol-related help groups and a quick call to one of them would do no harm at all.
   • We had cable when we lived in Bradford and it gave us loads of TV access with superb quality.
   • My friend likes running, which is great as it's free and we have loads of great parks and roads to run on.
   • We were punished last year but we still have young hurlers with loads of skill.
   • I took loads of photos and was way too slow off the mark with all of them, so here's a link to a decent picture.
   • Having these premises is really important for them because they'll be able to provide loads more services and be more of a resource for people.
   • At the moment the site has loads of vacancies but not a lot else to speak of.
   • It's too easy to spend loads of cash, but also very enjoyable and extremely addictive.

   Synonyms

   a lot, a great deal, a great amount, a large amount, a large quantity, a number, an abundance, a wealth, a profusion, a mountain

4The amount of power supplied by a source; the resistance of moving parts to be overcome by a motor.

1. 4.1 The amount of electricity supplied by a generating system at any given time.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • To estimate your electrical load, total the wattage of all the equipment you'll operate at one time.
   • In a special feature, the system prevents the simultaneous turning on or off of all glow plugs to avoid high instantaneous loads on the onboard electrical power system.
   • It should not require a minimum load, and should provide automatic crossover between voltage regulation and current regulation.
   • As he reviewed his options, he heard his utility was offering financial incentives to cut electric loads when the utility's load was peaking.
   • Customers with loads greater than 900 kilowatts can choose their electric supplier and pick a new supplier if all parties agree.
   • Allowing humidity to drop slightly may then cut boiler or electric loads.
   • In these facilities, when the peak is approached, the generators are started and loads transferred.
   • In general you share a transformer with several neighbors; and since you share a circuit with them, their loads will affect your electrical supply.
   • Facility restrooms might be a treasure trove of nonessential electric loads.
   • For example, deregulation is giving facilities the incentive to flatten electrical loads.
   • Con Edison needed to transfer the power load from the Leonard Street substation to Seaport without interrupting the load and causing a power outage.
   • If you must use an extension cord, use a cord that's rated for the electrical load and no longer really needed.
   • The reliance on daylighting and the lack of air-conditioning have greatly reduced the electrical loads.
   • Electricity supply must keep up with increased loads and sewerage with that ‘end’ of it too.
   • However, we all tend to add appliances and other electrical loads after the wiring is done.
   • Utilities need to prepare grids to handle bigger loads and to boost power from renewable sources.
   • Two fully independent AC and DC electrical systems are each capable of supplying all essential loads in case of failure the other system.
2. 4.2Electronics An impedance or circuit that receives or develops the output of a transistor or other device.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Since your main supply wires have some resistance, you will still get some flicker even when these loads are on different circuits.
   • When the current value detected by the current detector exceeds a predetermined value, power supply to the load is stopped using a breaker.
   • Depending on the load, the voltage output will vary.

1Put a load or large amount of something on or in (a vehicle, ship, container, etc.)

1. 1.1 Place (a load or large quantity of something) on or in a vehicle, ship, container, etc.
   stolen property from a burglary was loaded into a taxi

   Example sentencesExamples

   • In addition, there is now a new differential between the wages of drivers in the huge container cranes and those operating cranes used to load and unload bulk cargo.
   • I love chocolate and I love my mother-in-law, but this cake is so thick and rich it should be loaded into helicopters and used to smother oil well fires.
   • I like to check in last, on the basis that the final bags to be loaded into the hold will be the first off at the other end, and I like to be greeted by a stewardess on the plane who tuts a lot and looks at her watch.
   • Tomorrow the old timber will be loaded into the back of the car and we'll take it down to the town dump for recycling.
   • Typically, port operators are able to load as many as 600 containers onto a single containership.
   • That would allow Russian crude to be loaded into some of the very large crude carriers that regularly cross the Atlantic.
   • The plot is thought to have involved the use of conventional explosives, probably to be loaded into cars and driven into crowded city centres.
   • Shipments of fruit and other goods had to be loaded into the market stalls; Lena could smell bread rising somewhere.
   • Each morning, the luggage, food and equipment needed for the gruelling miles ahead is loaded into a minibus.
   • They told how they got off their KLM plane in Manchester only to be told by officials that no bags had been loaded into the hold at all.
   • They also provided maintenance support at the port of Antwerp, to help repair deadlined vehicles on the spot so they could be loaded into the ships on schedule.
   • The gathered congregation then watched as the remains were loaded into a van-type vehicle for the long journey home to Poland, which took two days.
   • But they are not checking the cargo that is loaded into those planes.
   • Michael immediately began to load boxes and bags of food and supplies into the van.
   • The warm beer, the necessities and souvenirs laid out in the shopping area - everything had been loaded into vehicles or onto camels and brought out for the festival.
   • Most of our 500 pounds of food, clothing and equipment have been loaded into the plane and are ready to go.
   • Groceries will be ready for collection within three hours of ordering and will be loaded into customers' cars on arrival at the centre.
   • The warheads had been loaded into the cargo bay and strapped down.
   • Apparel items often move without being touched by human hands, from the time they are loaded into a container by a supplier to being unloaded at a specific retail store.
   • We now have container security initiatives and all kinds of gizmos and ways to check what's loaded into the containers.

   Synonyms

   pack, stow, store, stack, bundle, stuff, cram, squeeze, jam, wedge
2. 1.2no object (of a ship or vehicle) take on a load.
   when we came to the quay the ship was still loading

   Example sentencesExamples

   • She sighed and slumped once more into the plastic orange chair; it was only ten minutes before the Greyhound bus started loading.
   • However, the impact is the same and now we've just heard that the ship will not be loading for at least a week, so it's going to cost millions of dollars.
   • The first ship to load at Victor Harbor was the Goshawk taking on a cargo of whale oil in 1838.
   • After an internal investigation, McDonald said the company has tightened up regulations to ensure no crew members are shifting places while the vessel is loading or unloading.
   • Anything that was seen to be unsafe, somebody stopped something for - stopped a ship from loading or discharging in order to have a look at it, examine it and modify it, or what have you.
   • I ran down to where the buses load, just to find that my bus was late again.
   • In relation to the access from Castle Street which is two way, Mr Hearn said this led to conflict between vehicles at the Castle Street access and is often made worse by vehicles loading and unloading.
3. 1.3load up onno object Take, buy, or consume a large amount of.
   I just went down to the store and loaded up on beer

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Now this is not an excuse to load up on high fat foods, it means you still need to watch what you are eating.
   • And rather than eat stale, $10 airplane meals on our long flight home, we loaded up on delicious, fresh market food.
   • This study provides yet more evidence for the disease-preventive effects of vitamin C and gives us another reason to load up on plenty of foods rich in this nutrient including citrus fruit, broccoli, tomatoes and green peppers.
   • Our aim is to spend a whole day in here loading up on the food before assaulting the drinks menu at around dusk.
   • Take off your belt and get into the sweatpants now, because you're going to load up on seven different kinds of eats during the four-hour game, with something for everyone, guaranteed.
   • Also, tell them to hold the cheese and mayonnaise, so you don't load up on too many useless calories.
   • Other times, she would load up on fast food while on the road.
   • In stressful times, pregnant women are no different than the rest of us: they load up on carbohydrates, fatty foods, sweets and snacks.
   • A nontraining day is also an ideal opportunity for you to load up on bodybuilding foods, but be vigilant with your diet.
   • Obviously, we load up on all the wrong things: favourite foods, huge portions, too many sweets, too many drinks, and too much sitting around.

2Make (someone or something) carry or hold a large or excessive amount of heavy things.

1. 2.1load someone/something with Supply someone or something with (something) in overwhelming abundance or to excess.
   the King and Queen loaded Columbus with wealth and honors

   Example sentencesExamples

   • As I read over what I have written above I worry that I have loaded her victory with a political slant which I don't think that she would want; clearly she just loves to run.
   • While ‘purists’ claimed that legitimate photography was a direct copy of physical reality, the pictorialists loaded their photographs with transcendent and cultural values.
   • He loads the film with pitch black comedy, giving it a rich texture that most filmmakers wouldn't be able to conjure up.
   • He loaded his pitch with feel-good, can-do optimism, insisting his message is ‘based on politics of hope, based on the politics of what is possible.’
   • Politicians, pundits, and the hordes of bloggers have been polishing the brass on their discourse, loading their sentences with hot words that though they may glow with the flame of rhetoric, they are depleted of common sense…
   • We're loading our lives with so much minutia that our creative thinking suffers.
   • My query was sincere, my comment was loaded with independently confirmable facts and you come back to me with… nothing.
   • The evidence is there in our teams' meek exits from Europe over the past couple of weeks that the experiment of loading our clubs with foreigners, in the hope that they will deliver success in Europe, has backfired.

   Synonyms

   reward, ply, regale, shower
2. 2.2usually be loaded Bias toward a particular outcome.
   the odds were loaded against them before the match

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The way we are taught Shakespeare is too often loaded towards the idea that his plays are about supposedly unchanging things, like love or ambition or treachery.
   • ‘The system is heavily loaded in favour of the Americans,’ he insists.
   • The appraisal process is loaded in favour of the methodological commitments of the appraiser.

   Synonyms

   bias, rig, fix, set up

3Charge (a firearm) with ammunition.

1. 3.1 Insert something into (a device) so that it can be operated.
   load your camera before you start

   Example sentencesExamples

   • ‘Don't forget to load your camera to record the first day of kindergarten,’ Helt said.
   • Keep your film and your batteries in a fridge if possible when you get to your destination, but allow your film to warm a bit before loading your camera.
   • To load the camera, attach any sort of film or photographic paper to the inside of the canister lid.
   • Always load and unload your camera in a protected place, away from the hazards of water and sand.
   • When you load a camera in a warm humid atmosphere, then take it diving in cold water, there is a good chance that fog will form inside the lens or housing.
   • This allowed the police forces to become complacent - for example, how do motorists know which cameras are loaded and which are not?
2. 3.2 Insert (something) into a device so that it will operate.
   load the cassette into the camcorder

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This is from when the camera went off when I was loading the film.
   • Start by loading the film into the tubes or drum.
   • Mia sat on her bed with her camera spread out in front of her, busy loading the new film she had purchased today.
   • While he loads new film into the camera, I drape the sheet in a wide, loose sash over my shoulder and between my legs.
   • The problem was cured by making absolutely certain that the negatives are pushed all the way to the bottom of the drum, and that the bend in the film is toward the middle of the drum when loading.
   • For this experiment, she had supplied me with very fast film, ASA 4,000, which was loaded into my Hasselblad camera.
   • Perhaps this is, in part, a lesson learned from forgetting to load film into my camera as a junior.
   • And who wants to fiddle with a camera that is so small that loading the film requires a lot of patience and pretty small fingers?
   • As with all digital cameras, the A303's main advantages are the fact that you don't have to load film and that you can delete your unwanted shots.
   • She walked over to her closet and pulled out her camera, loading the large 33 mm with black and white film.
   • She returned shortly to request another roll of film because she believed she had loaded the first one improperly.
   • This does require a little more expertise than just being able to load film into the camera.

   Synonyms

   insert, put, place, fit, slide, slot
3. 3.3Computing Transfer (a program or data) into memory, or into the central processor from storage.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The fairly close times of the two C versions tell us that most of the execution time is spent loading the program.
   • It forces the dynamic linker/loader to load the simulator first, then loads the program and its libraries into the simulator.
   • These represent programs that are loaded into memory.
   • This takes a different approach to most of the other software, loading different programs to cope with different sections of the editing process, from capture through to creating a final product.
   • Once your program is loaded into memory, the CPU is really the limiting factor.

4Add an extra charge to (an insurance premium) in the case of a poorer risk.