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
… rockets carrying … a payload of Starlink satellites. —Rick Neale
Their objective was to size the airplane according to its intended payload. —Clive Irving
2
: the weight of a payload
… the Bronco had a payload of 2000 pounds.—Darryl Young
Maximum fuel load is 3,550 pounds, leaving a payload of just 360 pounds with full tanks.—J. Mac McClellan
3
: 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
also
: something likened to such a payload
This vulnerability could be exploited to deploy a ransomware payload … —Carly Page
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
Cite this Entry
“Payload.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/payload. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.
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