8 Wintry Words to Defrost Your Vocabulary

dead load

noun, Engineering
See under load (def 11).
1865-70, Americanism


[lohd] /loʊd/
The truck carried a load of watermelons.
the quantity that can be or usually is carried at one time, as in a cart.
this quantity taken as a unit of measure or weight or a discrete quantity (usually used in combination):
carload; wagonload.
the quantity borne or sustained by something; burden:
a tree weighed down by its load of fruit.
the weight supported by a structure or part.
the amount of work assigned to or to be done by a person, team, department, machine, or mechanical system:
a reasonable load of work.
something that weighs down or oppresses like a burden; onus:
Supporting her younger brothers has been a heavy load for her.
loads, Informal. a great quantity or number:
loads of fun; loads of people.
the charge for a firearm.
a commission charged to buyers of mutual-fund shares.
Engineering. any of the forces that a structure is calculated to oppose, comprising any unmoving and unvarying force (dead load) any load from wind or earthquake, and any other moving or temporary force (live load)
  1. the power delivered by a generator, motor, power station, or transformer.
  2. a device that receives power.
Mechanics. the external resistance overcome by an engine, dynamo, or the like, under given conditions, measured and expressed in terms of the power required.
Geology. the burden of sediment being carried by a stream or river.
Compare bed load.
Slang. a sufficient amount of liquor drunk to cause intoxication:
He's got a load on tonight.
verb (used with object)
to put a load on or in; fill:
to load a ship.
to supply abundantly, lavishly, or excessively with something (often followed by down):
They loaded us down with gifts.
to weigh down, burden, or oppress (often followed by down, with, on, etc.):
to feel loaded down with responsibilities; to load oneself with obligations.
to insert a charge, projectile, etc., into (a firearm).
to place (film, tape, etc.) into a camera or other device:
He loaded the film into the camera.
to place film, tape, etc., into (a camera or other device):
How do you load this camera?
to take on as a load:
a ship loading coal.
to add to the weight of, sometimes fraudulently:
The silver candlesticks were loaded with lead.
Insurance. to increase (the net premium) by adding charges, as for expenses.
to add additional or prejudicial meaning to (a statement, question, etc.):
The attorney kept loading his questions in the hope of getting the reply he wanted.
to overcharge (a word, expression, etc.) with extraneous values of emotion, sentiment, or the like:
emotion that loads any reference to home, flag, and mother.
to weight (dice) so that they will always come to rest with particular faces upward.
Baseball. to have or put runners at (first, second, and third bases):
They loaded the bases with two out in the eighth inning.
Fine Arts.
  1. to place a large amount of pigment on (a brush).
  2. to apply a thick layer of pigment to (a canvas).
  1. (of metal being deep-drawn) to become welded to (the drawing tool).
  2. (of material being ground) to fill the depressions in the surface of (a grinding wheel).
  3. (in powder metallurgy) to fill the cavity of (a die).
  1. to bring (a program or data) into main storage from external or auxiliary storage.
  2. to place (an input/output medium) into an appropriate device, as by inserting a disk into a disk drive.
Electricity. to add (a power-absorbing device) to an electric circuit.
verb (used without object)
to put on or take on a load, as of passengers or goods:
The bus usually loads at the side door.
to load a firearm.
to enter a carrier or conveyance (usually followed by into):
The students loaded quickly into the buses.
to become filled or occupied:
The ship loaded with people in only 15 minutes.
loads, Informal. very much; a great deal:
Thanks loads. It would help loads if you sent some money.
get a load of, Slang.
  1. to look at; notice; observe.
  2. to listen to with interest:
    Did you get a load of what she said?
load the dice, to put someone or something in a advantageous or disadvantageous position; affect or influence the result:
Lack of sufficient education loaded the dice against him as a candidate for the job.
before 1000; Middle English lode (noun); orig. the same word as lode (Old English lād way, course, carrying); senses influenced by lade
Related forms
loadless, adjective
reload, noun, verb
underload, verb (used with object)
Can be confused
load, lode.
7. weight, encumbrance. Load, burden referred originally to something placed on a person or animal or put into a vehicle for conveyance. Both load and burden are still used in this literal sense, though burden only infrequently, except in such fixed phrases as beast of burden and a ship of 1500 tons burden (carrying capacity). Both words have come to be used figuratively to refer to duties, cares, etc., that are oppressively heavy, and this is now the main meaning of burden : You have taken a load off my mind. Some children are a burden. 16. lade. 18. weight, encumber.
18. disburden. Unabridged
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Examples from the web for dead load
  • For the steel girder, the dead load per unit length varies due to the change in plate sizes.
  • For the calculation, the fluid and superimposed dead load deflections are added to the in-service bottom-of-slab elevations.
  • Camber shall be checked in th e fabrication shop in the vertical position under girder dead load only.
  • The weight of the safety barrier curb on top of the wall shall be included in the dead load.
  • The constant dead load stress does not affect fatigue.
  • For longer span applications, the dead load becomes too high for continued economy.
  • The dead load is combined with the seismic inertial load to determine the maximum bending moment.
  • All finite element models must have dead load static reactions verified and boundary conditions checked for errors.
  • The self weight load of the concrete structure is applied vertically downward as component dead load.
  • The dead load, which is the weight of the building itself, is affected by the type of frame and exterior walls.
British Dictionary definitions for dead load

dead load

the intrinsic invariable weight of a structure, such as a bridge. It may also include any permanent loads attached to the structure Also called dead weight Compare live load


something to be borne or conveyed; weight
  1. the usual amount borne or conveyed
  2. (in combination): a carload
something that weighs down, oppresses, or burdens: that's a load off my mind
a single charge of a firearm
the weight that is carried by a structure See also dead load, live load
(electrical engineering, electronics)
  1. a device that receives or dissipates the power from an amplifier, oscillator, generator, or some other source of signals
  2. the power delivered by a machine, generator, circuit, etc
the force acting on a component in a mechanism or structure
the resistance overcome by an engine or motor when it is driving a machine, etc
an external force applied to a component or mechanism
(informal) a load of, a quantity of: a load of nonsense
(informal) get a load of, pay attention to
(US & Canadian, slang) have a load on, to be intoxicated
(slang) shoot one's load, (of a man) to ejaculate at orgasm
verb (mainly transitive)
(also intransitive) to place or receive (cargo, goods, etc) upon (a ship, lorry, etc)
to burden or oppress
to supply or beset (someone) with in abundance or overwhelmingly: they loaded her with gifts
to cause to be biased: to load a question
(also intransitive) to put an ammunition charge into (a firearm)
(photog) to position (a film, cartridge, or plate) in (a camera)
to weight or bias (a roulette wheel, dice, etc)
(insurance) to increase (a premium) to cover expenses, etc
to draw power from (an electrical device, such as a generator)
to add material of high atomic number to (concrete) to increase its effectiveness as a radiation shield
to increase the power output of (an electric circuit)
to increase the work required from (an engine or motor)
to apply force to (a mechanism or component)
(computing) to transfer (a program) to a memory
load the dice
  1. to add weights to dice in order to bias them
  2. to arrange to have a favourable or unfavourable position
See also loads
Word Origin
Old English lād course; in meaning, influenced by lade1; related to lead1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for dead load







Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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dead load in Medicine

load (lōd)
A departure from normal body content, as of water, salt, or heat. A positive load is a quantity in excess of the normal; a negative load is a deficit.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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dead load in Science
  1. The resistance, weight, or power drain sustained by a machine or electrical circuit. Compare effort.

  2. The power output of a generator or power plant.

  3. The amount of a pathogen or toxic substance present in an organism.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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Slang definitions & phrases for dead load


  1. Enough liquor to make one drunk: He's takingon a load again
  2. A dose of narcotic smoked in a water pipe (esp teenagers)
  3. The semen of a single orgasm
  4. An old car (1980s+ Teenagers)
  5. An obese person; chubbo: It's sort of OK to be a load, because it's what's inside that counts/ I'm not going to camp with a bunch of fat loads (1990s+)
  6. (also load of shit) Nonsense; lies and exaggerations; mendacious cant; bullshit, crock of shit: the whole thing about O J threatening to blow his head off was a load (1990s+)
Related Terms

carry a load, carry the load, freeload, get a load of, half load, have a load on, a shitload, shoot one's load, three bricks shy of a load

Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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Idioms and Phrases with dead load
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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