plural payloads
1
: the load carried by a vehicle exclusive of what is necessary for its operation
especially
: the load carried by an aircraft or spacecraft consisting of people or things (such as passengers or instruments) necessary to the purpose of the flight
NASA's first post-Challenger launching is tentatively set for May 1. Its payload, the NOAA-G weather satellite, will be lofted by an expendable Scout rocket. —
J. Eberhart
J. Eberhart Their objective was to size the airplane according to its intended payload. —Clive Irving
Clive Irving 2
: the weight of a payload
… the Bronco had a payload of 2000 pounds.—Darryl Young
Darryl YoungMaximum fuel load is 3,550 pounds, leaving a payload of just 360 pounds with full tanks.—J. Mac McClellan
J. Mac McClellan3
: the destructive component carried by a missile or bomb
… they did not fail to realize that a missile powerful enough to put a satellite into orbit could also deliver a nuclear payload to Washington, D.C., or New York, or Chicago, or any major American city.—Alex Wellerstein
Alex Wellerstein
also
: something likened to such a payload
American computer security experts were first to spot another worm whose virus payload was contained within an e-mail that masqueraded as a virus alert from Symantec. —Pacific Business News
Pacific Business News Thus, a potential pitfall for using adenoviruses as a vaccine delivery system is that a person's immune system may end up responding more to the adenovirus itself than the vaccine's genetic payload … —Beth Mole
Beth Mole Examples of payload in a Sentence
The truck is carrying a payload of 2,580 pounds.
the space shuttle can carry a maximum payload of approximately 50,000 pounds
Recent Examples on the Web
Blue Ghost is designed to deliver 10 NASA payloads.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 May 2025
That tug experienced an anomaly, however, which resulted in the Otter and other payloads being deployed earlier than planned.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 21 May 2025
The mission also carried scientific and commercial payloads, including technology demonstrators and biological experiments from partners such as Frontier Space, Imperial College London, DLR and IDDK.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2025
In most instances the shotgun blast damages the drone and the target plunges to the ground, in one (at 0:29 in the video) the drone payload detonates spectacularly.
—David Hambling, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for payload
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Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 May 2025
That tug experienced an anomaly, however, which resulted in the Otter and other payloads being deployed earlier than planned.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 21 May 2025
The mission also carried scientific and commercial payloads, including technology demonstrators and biological experiments from partners such as Frontier Space, Imperial College London, DLR and IDDK.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2025
In most instances the shotgun blast damages the drone and the target plunges to the ground, in one (at 0:29 in the video) the drone payload detonates spectacularly.
—David Hambling, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for payload
Cite this Entry
“Payload.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/payload. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
payload
noun
pay·load
ˈpā-ˌlōd 
: something (as cargo, passengers, instruments, or explosives) carried by a vehicle in addition to what is necessary for its operation
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