load 
And all that freedom's hinhr-t alms can reach 
IB but to lay prnportinn il tiMtlx on each. 
HUH, Traveller,!. :I74. 
Especially 3. That which is hard to be sus- 
tained or endured; an oppressive or grievous 
burden: as, a load of debt : :i lofdotgaOt, 
Who hast of sorrow thy full load besides. 
Mitlun, S. A., 1. 214. 
Sin doth not lie like a heavy weight upon their bucks, 
o that they feel the load of it. 
, Si-it noiu, II. ill. 
Men who prefer any load of infamy, however great, to 
any pressure of taxation, however light. 
Sydney Smith, American Debts. (RarUett.) 
4. The charge of a firearm : as, a land of buck- 
shot. 5. A quantity of strong drink imbibed, 
or sometimes of food taken, that oppresses, or 
is more than can be borne comfortably or with 
propriety : as, he went home late with a load on. 
[Slang.] 
There are those that can never sleep without their load, 
nor enjoy one easy thought till they have laid all their 
cares to rest with a bottle. Sir Jt. L'Kttrange. 
6. A unit of measure or weight. By the statute 
of Edward I., de ponderibus et menmru, a load (carrus) of 
lead is 1,500 pounds, and sometimes 168 stone, and in the 
Peak, 30 fotmals or 2,100 pounds, and of wheat the same. 
By statutes of Ueorge I., a load of wood is SO cubic feet, 
and a load of hay 2,010 pounds. By a statute of 27 George 
III., a load of bulrushes ia 83 bundles, other loads are 
merely customary. Dr. Young says a load of wheat is 40 
bushels ; of earth or gravel , 1 cubic yard ; of lime, 32 bushels ; 
of oak-bark, 5,040 pounds ; of sand, 38 bushels. A load of 
lead ore in Derbyshire is 9 dishes of from 14 to 10 pints 
each. 
7. In mcclt., the pressure upon any part or the 
whole of a structure. It consists of the internal 
load, or permanent load, the weight of the part itself and 
Its fixed attachments, and the external load, arising from 
pressures of other bodies upon its surface. [The word 
is not properly used to signify a quantity of work. ] 
A structure has to support both its own weight and also 
any load that may be placed upon it Thus a railway 
bridge must at all times sustain what is called the perma- 
nent load, and frequently, of course, the weight of one or 
more trains. It. S. Ball, Exper. Mechanics, p. 172. 
To lay on loadt. See Joj/i.=8yn. 1 and 2. Freight, 
cargo, lading. 3. Pressure, dead-weight, incubus, clog. 
load- (lod), v. [< load 2 , n. ; in part a var. of 
the original verb (tide 1 , in imitation of the noun 
toarf 2 : see lade 1 .'} I. trans. 1. To lay a bur- 
den on ; charge with a load ; furnish with lad- 
ing or cargo; lade: as, to load a camel or a 
horse; to Toad a cart or wagon. [The past 
participle loaden is obsolete.] 
Your carriages were heavy loaden ; they are a burden to 
the weary beast. Isa. xlvi. 1. 
By turns they ease the lixtden swarms, or drive 
The drone, a lazy insect, from their hive. 
Addim, tr. of Virgil's Georgics, iv. 
2. To lay as a burden ; place upon or in some- 
thing for conveyance : as, to load cotton on a 
lighter; to load cargo. 
There was no talke, no hope, no worke, but dig gold, 
wash gold, refine gold, loade gold. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's True Travels, 1. 169. 
3. To weigh down; impose something upon, 
either good or bad; pile; heap; encumber or 
oppress: with irith: as, to load the stomach 
irith sweets; to load the memory with details. 
Those honours deep and broad, wherewn'Oi 
Your majesty loads our house. 
Shot., Macbeth, L 6. 17. 
Essex loaded Bacon irith benefits, and never thought 
that he had done enough. Macaulay, Lord Bacon. 
4. To make heavy by something added or ap- 
pended ; charge, as with something extraneous : 
as, to load a whip ; to load dice. 
He has a conscience, 
A cruel stinging one, I warrant him, 
A loaden one. Fletcher, Loyal Subject, v. 1. 
At the ripe age of fourteen years I bought a certain cud- 
gel, got a friend to load it. 
R. L. Stevenson, A Penny Plain, 2<f Coloured. 
5. To make heavy, as a liquid ; especially, to 
falsify, as wine, by mixing with it distilled 
liquor of some sort, usually accompanied with 
sugar and other ingredients, for the purpose of 
making a thin wine appear heavy and full- 
bodied; also, to increase the weight of, as pa- 
per, or textile fabrics, by the addition of clay, 
starch, or other extrinsic matter. 
It i- an intolerable nuisance to have to dress, and go out 
seven or eight miles to cold entrees, and loaded claret, 
and sweet port. Thackeray, Level the Widower, iii. 
If the paper is to be loaded that is, adulterated with 
clay or cheap fibres these are acUK'tl in the beater as the 
fibre swirls round and round. Harper's May., LXXV. 120. 
6. To place a charge in ; charge, as a gun with 
powder and shot. 
Many a Whig that day loaded his musket with a dollar 
cut into slugs. Scott, Old Mortality, xvi. 
3491 
The sportsman should be careful ... to ascertain the 
i :h;u K' 1 best suited to his weapon, and to have his cartridges 
no loaded. Kncyc. Brit., XXI. 835. 
7. In paiiitiii;/: (a) To mix with white: said of 
a pigment which in this way is made more solid 
and opaque. (/>) To paint heavily ; apply(color) 
in soud opaque masses. 
Masses of white enamel are loaded upon the surf ace, with 
:i view to further treatment. Art Jour., N. 8., XI. 10. 
Deck-loading Act, a British statute of 1842 (5 Viet, KM. 
2, c. 17) forhiddiiiK the loading of cargoes of timber on 
tin- iln-ks f < i Tin in classes of ships. Loaded dice. >'' 
die*. To load One's self, on the stock-exchange, to buy 
heavily of stock. See unload. 
II. intrant/. 1. To put or take on a load or 
charge: often with : as, the travelers loaded 
and started early; the ship loaded up with a 
miscellaneous cargo. 2. To charge a gun or 
guns : as, the troops loaded and fired rapidly. 
Steady they load, steady they fire, moving right onward 
still. T. 0. Damn, Kontenoy. 
3. To become loaded or burdened; clog up: as, 
oysters are apt to load with sand. 
loaded 1 *, a. An obsolete variant of loded. 
loaded 2 (16'ded), p. a. 1. Coated with external 
growths, as shells; clogged up: said of oysters. 
[Rhode Island.] 2. Full of liquor; drunk. 
[Slang.] 
loader (16'der), n. 1. One who or that which 
loads: as, a truck-/orfer. Specifically (a) A little 
machine for loading shells or cartridges for a breech-load- 
ing shot-gun ; a loading-machine. (6) In agri., etc., any 
device for laying a load upon a wagon, sled, or cart : as, a 
hay-loader, a log-foufer, etc. 
2. A red-finued herring. [Prov. Eng.] 3f. A 
term in dicing, of uncertain meaning. 
Every vice is a loader; but that [lust] is a ten. 
Dryden, tr. of Juvenal's Satires, yi., Arg. 
loading (16'ding), . [Verbal n. of load?, r.] 
1. The act of putting on a load. 2. A cargo; 
a burden; lading: also, anything that makes 
part of a load. 3. Anything that is added to 
a substance or material in order to give it 
weight or body: as, the China clay or pearl-white 
used for loading note-paper. 4. In art, a heavy 
charge of opaque color. See Jod 2 , v. t., 7. 
Loading is the use of opaque colour In heavy masses 
which actually protrude from the canvas and themselves 
catch the light, as the mountains do on the moon. 
P. Q. Uamerton, Oraphic Arts, p. 304. 
6. In insurance, that part of the charge or pre- 
mium on a policy which constitutes its share 
of the expenses of management. 
The terms loading and " margin " have come to bear a 
somewhat extended meaning. They are now used to des- 
ignate the difference between the premiums payable by 
the assured and the net premiums deduced from any ta- 
ble that may be employed for the time. 
Eneyc. Brit., XIII. 173. 
loading (16'ding), p. a. Made so as to be loaded 
(in the way specified) : as, a breech-tonrfiwj/ or 
a muzzle-/arfH<7 gun. 
loading-bar (16'ding-bar), n. In gun., a bar of 
iron about two feet long, made with a ring at 
one end and a screw at the other, for carrying 
and loading shells. Also called carrying-bar. 
loading-funnel (16'ding-fun'el), n. See funnel. 
loading-machine (lo'ding-ma-shen'), n. A ma- 
chine for loading cartridge-shells. It has a re- 
volving wheel on which the shells are fed in : the requisite 
amount of powder is admitted to each shell from the pow- 
der-can by means of a funnel above, and the bullet or 
charge of shot is forced into the neck of each shell as the 
wheel advances in its revolution. 
loading-plug (16'ding-plug), t>. A rammer for 
loading shells and extracting caps from spent 
capsules. 
loading-tongs (16'ding-tdngz), n. sing, and pi. 
In gun., a pair of tongs used to set the shell 
home in a siege-howitzer. 
loading-tray (lo'ding-tra), . In milit. emjin., 
a stout iron support upon which a heavy shot 
or shell is placed, and by suitable mechanism 
brought into the opening in the breech of a 
large breech-loading gun, as an assistance in 
fhiirging the gun. 
load-fine (lod'lin), . [Appar. < fo<P + Kne2 ; 
luit perhaps < loadl = lode 1 + fine 2 .] y<iut., 
a line drawn on the side of a vessel to show the 
depth to which a suitable or allowable load will 
cause her to sink in the water. Among English 
seamen known as PlimsolFs mark. See marl:. 
There shall be a load-line or conspicuous mark on each 
vessel, showing the depth of loading and of surplus buoy- 
ancy. /;. /. Ilintan, Eng. Radical Leaders, p. 207. 
N'or did it occur to the "practical" politicians who pro- 
vided a compulsory load-line for merchant vessels, that 
llii- pressure of ship-owners' interests would habitually 
cause the putting of the luad-line at the very highest limit, 
and th:it fnmi precedent to precedent, tending ever in the 
same direetion, the load-line would gradually rise in the 
better class of ships. II. Spencer, Man vs. state, p. 25. 
loafer 
loadman't, See imli man. 
loadman-t (lod'man), A carter. Iliilhinll. 
loadmanaget, . See /</< manai/i . 
load-penny (lod'pen'i), w. A market toll or tax 
anciently levied on loads in the towns of Eng- 
land for public revenue. 
The gift of Its [Worcester's! market-dues, wain-shilling 
and load-penny, was the costliest anioliK the many boons 
which ,-Kthi lri-il ;m<l .thclnwd showered on Bishop Wer- 
frith. ./. K. Oreen, Conq. of Eng., Is. 
loadsmant, n. See lodesman. 
loadstar, ;<. See lodestar. 
loadstone, n. See lodestone. 
loadumt (16'dum), . [Appar. for load 'cm: see 
quot. from Florio.] An old game at cards. 
Carica 1'aslno lit, load the ass], a play at cardes which 
we call lodam. Florio. 
For to convene with Scandal is to play Losing Loadtim .- 
you must lose a good Name to him, before you can win it 
for yourself. Conyreve, Love for Love, L 11. 
Now some at cards and dice do play 
Their money and their time away ; 
At loadum, cribbedge, and all-fours. 
Poor Robin (1735). (Hares. ) 
loaf'OoO.w.; pi. foares(lovz). [<ME. lnf,loof(pl. 
loves), < AS. hldf, bread, a loaf of bread, = OHG. 
hlaiba, laiba, leib, leip, MHO. teip, G. laib = Icel. 
bread: the common Teut. term for 'bread,' 
older than the word bread. The Lith. hlepas, 
Lett, klaipas, bread, are prob. < OBulg. 'khltbu 
= Buss, khlebu, bread, and these Slav, forms 
with Finn, leipa, Esthonian leip, bread, are prob. 
from the OTeut. The word loaf appears dis- 
guised in the orig. compounds Lammax and prob. 
lord and lady.] A portion of bread baked in 
one lump or mass; a regularly shaped or mold- 
ed mass of bread; hence, any shaped or molded 
mass of cake, sugar, or the like. 
The enemy of Helle . . . seyde Die ut lapides isti panes 
flant : that is to seye, Sey that theise Stones be made 
Loves. Mandeuille, Travels, p. 98. 
There shall be In England seven halfpenny loaoet sold 
for a penny. Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 2. 72. 
A hot smoking loaf of rye-and-Indian bread. 
H. B. Stom, Oldtown, p. 199. 
Holy loaf, (a) In the Or. Ch., same as hola lamb. See 
lamb. (6) In the medieval eh. in England, the blessed 
bread ; a eulogla. 
The Parishioners of every Parish shall offer every Sun- 
day, at the time of the Offertory, the just value and price 
of the Mi; loaf ... to the use of their Pastors and Curates, 
and that in such order and course as they were wont to 
find and pay the said holy loaf. 
Book of Common Prayer (1549) (rubric). 
Loafed lettuce), headed lettuce. 
Lairtue crespue [F. ], loafed or headed lettice. 
Komendator (1585). (tfaret.) 
Loaves and fishes, figuratively, temporal benefits, as 
money or office : in allusion to the miraculous loaves and 
fishes distributed by Christ to the multitude who followed 
him, and his words (John vi. 26), " Ye seek me, not because 
ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, 
and were filled." 
The consequence must be, that although every one of 
these four orders [of the Florentine government] must 
be divided at once into factions for the loaves and fishes, 
yet the nobility, by their superior influence in elections, 
would have the whole power. J. Adams, Works, V. 18. 
loaf 2 (16f), t'. [Appar. first in the noun loafer 
(< G. Idufer = E. leaper, loper) ; < G. laufen, dial. 
lofen (= D. loopen = E. leap), run, wander or 
lounge about: see leap 1 , lope 1 .'] I. intrans. To 
idle away one's time; lounge; dawdle; play the 
vagabond ; stroll idly and without purpose. 
To Imif: this, I think, Is unquestionably German. Lavfen 
Is pronounced lofen in some parts of Germany, and I once 
heard one German student say to another " Ich lauf [lofe] 
hier bis du wiederkehrest," and he began to saunter up 
and down In short, to loaf. 
Lowell, Blglow Papers, 2d ser., Int. 
Shoeblacks are compelled to a great deal of unavoida- 
ble loafing; but certainly this one loafed rather energeti- 
cally, for he was hot and frantic In his play. 
//. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, xli. (Danes.) 
I loafe and invite my Soul ; 
I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of summer 
grass. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, p. 28. 
How can you go down to the beach by yourself amongst 
all those loafing vagabonds, who would pick your pocket 
or throw stones at you? W. Black, Princess of Thnle, xlv. 
II. trans. To pass or spend in idleness, as 
time; spend lazily; dawdle: with away: as, to 
loaf away whole days. 
The Senate has loafed away the week In very gentle- 
manly style. New York Commercial Advertiser, Dec., 1846. 
loafer (16'fer), n. [See /oa/2.] An idle man, 
lounger, or aimless stroller, of whatever social 
condition ; specifically, one who is too lazy to 
work or pursue regular business, and lounges 
about, depending upon chance or disreputable 
means for subsistence. 
