ballasts

noun

Definition of ballastsnext
plural of ballast
as in cargoes
heavy material (such as rocks or water) that is put on a ship to make it steady or on a balloon to control its height in the air
—often used figuratively A large amount of ballast kept the boat from capsizing. She provided the ballast the family needed in times of stress.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballasts
  1. cargoes
  2. payloads
  3. burdens
Noun
  • Another company, Venture Global through the Calcasieu Pass facility in Louisiana, sold 360 cargoes to the spot market since the Russian invasion occurred.
    Wayne Winegarden, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024
  • Dress the sweater up with jeans and heels or keep it casual by wearing it with cargos and boots.
    Miles Walls, People.com, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of cargoes
Noun
  • While rockets get satellites and payloads into orbit, like an airplane carrying passengers to a metro area, space tugs deliver them to specific destinations, like taxis taking those passengers home from the airport.
    Michael Sheetz, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2024
  • These include provisions that would limit driverless trucks from roads with speeds of 50mph or higher and prevent them from carrying certain payloads, like hazardous chemicals.
    Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 30 Sep. 2024
Definition of payloads
Noun
  • These additional burdens, by definition, must either increase the price of plastics, reduce the returns to shareholders, or reduce the incomes of workers.
    Wayne Winegarden, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
  • In Israel, the war has imposed many economic burdens.
    David McHugh, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2024
Definition of burdens
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near ballasts

ballast

ballasts

balled

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Ballasts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballasts. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on ballasts

Nglish: Translation of ballasts for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of ballasts for Arabic Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
little chihuahua dressing like a turkey for thanksgiving
Giving Thanks Quiz Decide which words express gratitude and which gi...