freight

[ freyt ]
See synonyms for freight on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. goods, cargo, or lading transported for pay, whether by water, land, or air.

  2. the ordinary conveyance or means of transport of goods provided by common carriers (distinguished from express): Shipping by freight is less expensive.

  1. the charges, fee, or compensation paid for such transportation: We pay the freight.

  2. (especially in Britain) the cargo, or any part of the cargo, of a vessel; merchandise transported by water.

  3. Chiefly British. transportation of goods by water.

  4. Slang. cost or price, especially when high: I'd like a larger house, but can't afford the freight.

verb (used with object)
  1. to load; burden: a story heavily freighted with private meaning.

  2. to load with goods or merchandise for transportation: It took all night to freight the ship.

  1. to transport as freight; send by freight.

Origin of freight

1
1350–1400; Middle English freyght (noun), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vrecht, variant of vracht. See fraught

synonym study For freight

1. Freight, cargo, shipment refer to goods being transported from place to place. Freight is the general term for goods transported from one place to another by any means: to send freight from New York to New Orleans. Cargo is the term generally used for goods carried by ship or plane: to send a cargo to Europe. Shipment is a quantity of goods destined for a particular place, no matter how sent: a shipment of potatoes.

Other words for freight

Other words from freight

  • freightless, adjective
  • o·ver·freight, verb (used with object)
  • un·freight·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use freight in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for freight

freight

/ (freɪt) /


noun
    • commercial transport that is slower and cheaper than express

    • the price charged for such transport

    • goods transported by this means

    • (as modifier): freight transport

  1. mainly British a ship's cargo or part of it

verb(tr)
  1. to load with goods for transport

  2. mainly US and Canadian to convey commercially as or by freight

  1. to load or burden; charge

Origin of freight

1
C16: from Middle Dutch vrecht; related to French fret, Spanish flete, Portuguese frete

Derived forms of freight

  • freightless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012