How do you use the word "freight" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "freight" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "freight": The locomotive was pulling a long line of freight cars. After some freight cars were derailed, services were suspended on the Chuo Line.

Freight Meaning

/fɹeɪt/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounThe transportation of goods (originally by water; now also (chiefly US) by land); also, the hiring of a vehicle or vessel for such transportation.

nounGoods or items in transport; cargo, luggage.

Sentence Examples

The locomotive was pulling a long line of freight cars.

After some freight cars were derailed, services were suspended on the Chuo Line.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

load cargo shipment

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The train carried a large amount of ____ across the country.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The railway company specializes in transporting heavy ____ across the country in long cargo trains.

Word Origin & History

From Late Middle English freight, freght, freyght [and other forms], a variant of fraught, fraght (“transport of goods or people, usually by water; transportation fee; transportation facilities; cargo or passengers of a ship; (figuratively) burden; ballast of a ship; goods; a charge”), from Middle Dutch vracht, vrecht, and Middle Low German vrecht (“cargo, freight; transportation fee”), from Old Saxon frāht, frēht, from Proto-West Germanic *fra- (from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’)) + *aihti (from Proto-Germanic *aihtiz (“possessions, property”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”)). The English word can be analysed as for- + aught, and is a doublet of fraught. Cognates * French fret (“cargo, freight; transportation fees; rental of a ship”) * Old English ǣht (“livestock; possession, property; power”) * Old High German frēht (“earnings”) * Portuguese frete (“cargo, freight; transportation fees”) * Spanish flete (“cargo, freight; charter (hire of a vehicle for transporting cargo)”) * Swedish frakt c (“cargo, freight; transportation fees”)

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"[A]fter ſome Conſideration, that the City of Hamburgh might happen to be as good a Market for our Goods as London, we all took Freight with him, and having put my Goods on board, it was moſt natural for me to put my Steward on board to take care of them, […]" — 1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 372:

"Diſcretion is the ballaſt of our Ship, that carries us ſteady; but Zeal is the very Fraight, the Cargaſon, the Merchandiſe it ſelf, vvhich enriches us in the land of the living; and this vvas our caſe, vve vvere all come to eſteem our Ballaſt more then our Fraight, our Diſcretion more then our Zeal; we had more care to pleaſe great men then God; more conſideration of an imaginary change of times, then of unchangeable eternity it ſelf." — 1625 January 24 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Donne, “A Sermon Preached at St. Dunstans January 15. 1625. The First Sermon after Our Dispersion, by the Sickness.”, in XXVI. Sermons (Never before Publish’d) Preached by that Learned and Reverend Divine John Donne, […] The Third Volume, London: […] Thomas Newcomb, […], published 1661, →OCLC, page 295:

"Space for carrying light freight also features in Grand Union's proposal. The company says it is working with partners at Intercity Railfreight on the logistics of this, with refrigerated space to be available for movement of urgent NHS biological materials. Initially freight would be carried in the DVTs of the Class 91/Mk 4 sets, while on the Class 802s the kitchen/buffet would be located towards the centre of the train to make space for freight." — 2019 October, “South Wales Open Access Bid”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15:

"[I]f I would let the ſame Men who were in the Ship navigate her, he would hire the Ship to go to Japan, and would ſend them from thence to the Philippine Iſlands with another Loading, which he would pay the Freight of, before they went from Japan; and that at their Return, he would buy the Ship: […]" — 1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 292:

"Had the ship earned her freight? To earn freight there must, of course, be either a right delivery, or a due and proper offer to deliver the goods to the consignees." — 1881 February 26, [John] Lowell, judge of the Circuit Court, District of Massachusetts, “Taylor and Others v. Insurance Company of North America”, in Peyton Boyle, editor, The Federal Reporter. […] (1st Series), volume 6, St. Paul, Minn: West Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 412:

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