as in cargo
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.
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Recent Examples of ballast
One where balance sheets build and their brand finds ballast.
—
Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 22 June 2025
Race ballast and series-regulation electronics are not fitted, since there are no rules to adhere to, and the cockpit interface has been modified for track day usage instead of professional motorsport.
—Alistair Charlton, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
Evidence could include jetty and mooring post remnants, ballast stones, boatbuilding pits, temporary shelters, and artifacts indicating local commerce.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 May 2025
The bay, around the first bend from the lodge, is separated from the main lake by a railroad causeway built of ballast.
—Don Shiner, Outdoor Life, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 22 June 2025
Race ballast and series-regulation electronics are not fitted, since there are no rules to adhere to, and the cockpit interface has been modified for track day usage instead of professional motorsport.
—Alistair Charlton, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
Evidence could include jetty and mooring post remnants, ballast stones, boatbuilding pits, temporary shelters, and artifacts indicating local commerce.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 May 2025
The bay, around the first bend from the lodge, is separated from the main lake by a railroad causeway built of ballast.
—Don Shiner, Outdoor Life, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
-
Earlier this year, a FedEx cargo plane had to make an emergency landing shortly after it was set ablaze from hitting a bird.—
Colson Thayer,
People.com,
23 July 2025
-
There’s a handy 120-volt household outlet in the cargo area for appliances or camping gear.—
Kristin Shaw,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
Noun
-
It was used to transport passengers and freight between Green Bay and Oconto.—
Kerry Breen
July 13,
CBS News,
13 July 2025
-
The company specializes in ornamental metal, architectural millwork and commercial and residential stone and serves as a one-stop shop for design, fabrication, installation and freight.—
Katie Nixon,
The Tennessean,
10 July 2025
Noun
-
As Blurton explains it, in the strength world, load and velocity often have an inverse relationship.—
Jenny McCoy,
SELF,
15 July 2025
-
Hosting should be enjoyed, and sharing the load makes room for that joy.—
Dominique Fluker,
Essence,
11 July 2025
Noun
-
The PCMark 10 Overall Storage test measures an SSD's speed in performing a variety of routine tasks such as launching Windows, loading games and creative apps, and copying both small and large files.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
16 July 2025
-
Indeed tariffs typically take several months to feed through to inflation data, while the significant front loading of imports implies that few goods may have been subject to tariffs yet.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
The payload adapter was initially tested and is being stored at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
17 July 2025
-
Mechanical design for modularity often borrows from practices in industries like aerospace, where modular payload bays have been used for decades.—
Jay Shah,
Forbes.com,
17 July 2025
Noun
-
One example can be as simple as shipments that are missing bills of lading or origin documents.—
Forbes,
Forbes,
1 June 2021
-
According to bills of lading and other records provided to the San Antonio Express-News by officials at 23 food banks, CRE8AD8 delivered about 147,000 boxes total to food banks.—
Tom Orsborn,
ExpressNews.com,
1 July 2020
Noun
-
The burden of trying to fit into India, of forever apologizing for its shortcomings, apologizing for my own Westernization, was suddenly lifted from me.—
Aatish Taseer,
Time,
15 July 2025
-
In fact, there is something pleasurable in setting down the burdens of the past.—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
The Atlantic,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
That was the point where Sunderland began to fall off the Premier League cliff-edge, and Ndong was a deadweight to hasten their demise.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
-
Thus, Ockham's razor cuts loose the deadweight of the theory, leaving it with only the necessary pieces of explanation.—
Julius Černiauskas,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballast. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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