load

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
load/ləʊd/

▶noun

• 1 a heavy or bulky thing that is being carried or is about to be carried.

  ■ [in combination] the total number or amount that can be carried in a vehicle or container: a carload of people.

• 2 a weight or source of pressure.

  ■ the amount of work to be done by a person or machine.

  ■ a burden of responsibility, worry, or grief.

• 3 (a load of) informal a lot of.

  ■ (a load/loads) plenty.

• 4 the amount of power supplied by a source.

  ■ the resistance of moving parts to be overcome by a motor.

  ■ Electronics an impedance or circuit that receives or develops the output of a transistor or other device.

▶verb

• 1 put a load on or in (a vehicle, ship, etc.).

  ■ (of a ship or vehicle) take on a load.

• 2 make (someone or something) carry or hold a large amount of heavy things.

  ■ (load someone/thing with) supply with (something) in overwhelming abundance or to excess.

• 3 insert (something) into a device so that it will operate.

  ■ charge (a firearm) with ammunition.

• 4 bias towards a particular outcome.

– phrases
get a load of informal used to draw attention to someone or something.
get (or have) a load on US informal become drunk.
load the bases Baseball have base runners on all three bases.
load the dice against (or in favour of) put at a disadvantage (or advantage).

– origin OE lād ‘journey, conveyance’, of Gmc origin: rel. to lead1; cf. lode.