payload
Americannoun
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the part of a cargo producing revenue or income, usually expressed in weight.
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the number of paying passengers, as on an airplane.
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Aerospace, Military.
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the bomb load, warhead, cargo, or passengers of an aircraft, a rocket, missile, etc., for delivery at a target or destination.
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the total complement of equipment carried by a spacecraft for the performance of a particular mission in space.
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the explosive energy of the warhead of a missile or of the bomb load of an aircraft.
a payload of 50 megatons.
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noun
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that part of a cargo earning revenue
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the passengers, cargo, or bombs carried by an aircraft
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the equipment carried by a rocket, satellite, or spacecraft
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the explosive power of a warhead, bomb, etc, carried by a missile or aircraft
a missile carrying a 50-megaton payload
Etymology
Origin of payload
Explanation
Payload is what a vehicle carries. If you have a plane with a payload of one ton, then that plane can carry one ton (including you and the snacks you may bring aboard). Often, payload is estimated to be everything on board a vehicle that's worth money, or that produces income for the vehicle's owner. In the case of a commercial jet, that might be all the paying passengers. In other cases, a truck, ship, or plane's payload includes every single person and item on board, including the flight crew and fuel. From about 1936, payload frequently referred to bombs carried by a military plane or missile.
Vocabulary lists containing payload
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those can be overcome with Starship, a mega-rocket that SpaceX said can carry more than four times as much payload to low-Earth orbit as the Falcon 9.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
New Glenn is Blue Origin’s reusable rocket that can take 45 metric tons of payload into low Earth orbit.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
"We expect that Starship V3 will be able to carry a payload of 100 metric tons, with future generations of Starship being designed to double this payload," it added.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
One payload, the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies, will capture high-resolution images of how the lander's engine plume interacts with the lunar surface during descent and landing.
From Science Daily • May 6, 2026
The throwing arm was already primed with a full payload of Imperial gold and explosives.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
