load

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an amount of alcohol sufficient to intoxicate

   They each got a load on and started a brawl.

2. 2
   noun

   a quantity that can be processed or transported at one time

   the system broke down under excessive loads

3. 3
   verb

   fill or place a load on

   load a car

4. 4
   verb

   provide a device with something necessary

   We loaded our guns carefully.

5. 5
   verb

   put (something) on a structure or conveyance

   load the bags onto the trucks

6. 6
   noun

   A burden; a weight to be carried.

   I struggled up the hill with the heavy load in my rucksack.

7. 7
   noun

   A worry or concern to be endured, especially in the phrase a load off one's mind.

   Our life's a load.

8. 8
   noun

   A certain number of articles or quantity of material that can be transported or processed at one time.

   The truck overturned while carrying a full load of oil.

Etymology

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 pr…