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load

n. · v.
US //ˈɫoʊd// UK //lˈəʊd// load
  1. 1 heavy weight (n.)
    A2 Elementary Engineering

    something heavy that is being carried by a person, vehicle, or animal.

    a physical burden or weight being supported or transported.

    Example

    The truck was carrying a heavy load of bricks to the building site.

    Example

    Structural engineers must calculate the maximum load a bridge can sustain before the steel begins to fatigue.
  2. 2 large amount (n.)
    B1 Intermediate Informal

    a large number or amount of something.

    a significant quantity or volume, often used in the plural to indicate abundance.

    Example

    Don't worry about the snacks; I've got loads of food in the kitchen.

    Example

    The new manager inherited a load of problems from the previous administration, ranging from budget deficits to low staff morale.
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  1. 3 washing machine batch (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    the amount of clothes put into a washing machine at one time.

    a specific quantity of items, especially laundry, processed in a single cycle.

    Example

    I need to do another load of laundry before we go on holiday.

    Example

    She separated the whites from the colours to ensure the first load wouldn't be ruined by dye transfer.
  2. 4 mental burden (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    a worry or responsibility that is difficult to deal with.

    a figurative burden of responsibility or anxiety.

    Example

    It was a huge load off my mind when I finally passed my driving test.

    Example

    The debt felt like a heavy load that he carried every day, affecting his health and his relationships.
  3. 5 nonsense (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal Humorous

    something that is not true or is very silly.

    used to describe a statement or idea as completely false or worthless.

    Example

    That story about him winning the lottery is a load of rubbish.

    Example

    The politician's explanation for the missing funds was dismissed by the press as a load of old nonsense.
  4. 6 to fill a vehicle (v.)
    A2 Elementary

    to put a large amount of things into a vehicle or container.

    to place a cargo or quantity of items into a conveyance or storage area.

    Example

    We spent the whole morning loading the car for our camping trip.

    Example

    The dockworkers worked through the night to load the container ship before the storm arrived.
  5. 7 to start a program (v.)
    B1 Intermediate Computing

    to move data or a program into a computer's memory so it can start.

    to transfer data or software from a storage medium into a computer's active memory.

    Example

    The game takes a long time to load on my old laptop.

    Example

    The application failed to load because several essential library files were missing from the system directory.
  6. 8 to prepare a weapon (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to put bullets into a gun or film into a camera.

    to insert the necessary ammunition or material into a device to make it operational.

    Example

    He carefully loaded the film into the camera before the wedding started.

    Example

    The officer was trained to load and discharge the weapon under high-stress conditions without hesitation.
  7. 9 to bias something (v.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    to change something so that it is not fair or gives a certain result.

    to bias or weight something, such as a pair of dice or a question, to influence the outcome.

    Example

    The survey was loaded with questions that forced people to agree with the company.

    Example

    The dice were secretly loaded to ensure the house always had a statistical advantage over the players.
Etymology 1

The sense of “burden” first arose in the 13th century as a secondary meaning of Middle English lode, loade, which had the main significance of “way, course, journey”, from Old English lād (“course, journey; way, street, waterway; leading, carrying; maintenance, support”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic laidō (“leading, way”), Proto-Indo-European leyt- (“to go, go forth, die”). Cognate with Middle Low German leide (“entourage, escort”), German Leite (“line, course, load”), Swedish led (“way, trail, line”), Icelandic leið (“way, course, route”). As such, load is a doublet of lode, which has preserved the older meaning. Most likely, the semantic extension of the Middle English substantive arose by conflation with the (etymologically unrelated) verb lade; however, Middle English lode occurs only as a substantive; the transitive verb load (“to charge with a load”) is recorded only in the 16th century (frequently in Shakespeare), and (except for the participle laden) has largely supplanted lade in modern English. For the meaning development from PIE, compare Latin carrus (whence carry) akin to currō.

Etymology 2

Acronym of living online all day.

Word family
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