freight

1 of 2

noun

ˈfrāt 

often attributive

1

a

: the compensation paid for the transportation of goods

b

: cost

help pay the freight

2

a

: goods to be shipped : cargo

The freight arrived by steamboat.

b

: load, burden

The man staggered under a freight of small logs in a basket.

c

: meaning sense 3, significance

words that carry psychological freight, such as "family," "work," and "sex"

3

a

: the ordinary transportation of goods by a common carrier and distinguished from express

b

: a train designed or used for such transportation

an eastbound freight

freight

2 of 2

verb

freighted; freighting; freights

transitive verb

1

a

: to load with goods for transportation

b

: burden, charge

freighted with memories

2

: to transport or ship by freight

Synonyms

Noun

• burden
• cargo
• draft
• haul
• lading
• load
• loading
• payload
• weight

Verb

• burden
• encumber
• lade
• laden
• load
• lumber
• saddle
• weight

Examples of freight in a Sentence

Noun

trains that carry both passengers and freight

The freight arrived by steamboat.

The order was shipped by freight.

Verb

it took six hours to freight the cargo airplane

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Lightning All-Electric Prototype, the vehicle that famously pulled more than 1 million pounds of freight rail cars in a 2019 television commercial. —Jamie L. Lareau, USA Today, 28 Mar. 2025

Under his tenure, DOT audited Boeing 737 crashes, trucking and freight rail theft, and had ongoing investigations of Tesla and Space X, which are owned by Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by Trump to lead the federal DOGE. —Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2025

Verb

But this week’s most pervasive and symbolically freighted image is that of the snake. —Judy Berman, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025

Directed by Nigerian American Sundance Film Festival veteran Julius Onah (Luce, 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox), the movie arrives freighted with financial and cultural expectations. —Chris Lee, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English freghte, freight, freyte, freythe "transport of goods, charge for transportation, cargo of a ship," borrowed from Middle Dutch vrecht "cargo, charge for transport," going back to West Germanic *fraihti-, probably "what is given over or consigned to someone" (whence also Old Frisian fracht, frecht "charge for freight," Middle Low German vracht [vrecht- in vrechtman "consigner of a cargo"], Old High German frêht "reward, recompense") from *fra- "away, off" (going back to Indo-European *pro-) + Germanic *aihti- "property, possession" (whence Old English ǣht "possession, [in plural] property, goods," Old Saxon ēht "property," Old Icelandic ætt, átt "kindred, pedigree," Gothic aihtins [accusative plural] "property"), derivative, with the abstract noun suffix *-ti-, from the base of *aigan "to possess" — more at for entry 1, owe

Note: Compare fraught entry 2 and see note there.

Verb

Middle English freighten, derivative of freghte, freight freight entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing freight

• freight car
• freight train
• pay the freight

Rhymes for freight

• ate
• bait
• bate
• cate
• crate
• date
• eight
• fait
• fate
• fete
• frate
• gait

Kids Definition

freight

1 of 2 noun

ˈfrāt 

1

: the amount paid (as to a shipping company) for carrying goods

2

a

: goods or cargo carried by ship, train, truck, or airplane

b

: the carrying of goods from one place to another by vehicle

ship the order by freight

3

: a train that carries freight

freight

2 of 2 verb

1

: to load for transportation

2

: to ship by freight