Loading vs. Load — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on November 3, 2023
Loading is the process of adding cargo; load refers to the cargo itself or the weight carried by something.
Difference Between Loading and Load
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Loading refers to the action or process of putting goods onto a vehicle, ship, container, etc. It denotes the act and can also refer to the state of a system receiving data. The term 'load', however, can signify the goods that are being transported, the weight supported by a structure, or the electrical demand on a system.
Loading is a present participle and often implies an ongoing action, such as in "The workers are loading the truck." A load typically refers to the actual items or the amount being carried, as in "The truck carries a heavy load."
Loading can also relate to computer operations, where it represents the process of loading data or software. A load in computing can be the data or program that is being loaded, or the computational burden on the system.
In terms of usage, 'loading' can be a noun or verb, indicative of the process, whereas 'load' is primarily a noun describing what is carried, with the verb form meaning to put a load onto something or someone.
Loading zones are designated areas for loading goods; a load, in contrast, may be what is moved to or from such zones. They are terms that relate to each other, but from different aspects of the task of moving goods or data.
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Comparison Chart
Part of Speech
Verb (when action), noun (when process)
Noun (when cargo), verb (when action)
Reference
Action/process of adding cargo or data
Cargo or weight that is carried; electrical demand
Temporal Aspect
Ongoing activity
Completed state or object
Usage in Computing
Process of reading data into memory
Data or demand on a system
Physical vs. Abstract
Can be both (physical action or data transfer)
Usually physical (cargo), but can be abstract (burden)
Compare with Definitions
Loading
It denotes the process of transferring data onto a system.
Loading the new software was successful.
Load
It signifies the amount of power supplied or consumed in an electrical circuit.
The generator can handle a load of up to 5 kilowatts.
Loading
Loading is the act of putting cargo into a transport vehicle.
Loading the cargo took all morning.
Load
A heavy or bulky thing that is being carried or is about to be carried
In addition to their own food, they must carry a load of up to eighty pounds
Loading
Loading can describe the addition of a burden or responsibility.
He's loading me with more work every day.
Load
A weight or source of pressure borne by someone or something
The increased load on the heart caused by a raised arterial pressure
The arch has hollow spandrels to lighten the load on the foundations
Loading
Loading also refers to the graphical indication of a process in computing.
The loading icon spun for several minutes.
Load
A lot of
She was talking a load of rubbish
Loading
A weight placed on something else; a burden.
Load
The amount of power supplied by a source; the resistance of moving parts to be overcome by a motor
If the wire in the fuse is too thin to accept the load it will melt
Loading
A substance added to something else; a filler.
Load
Fill (a vehicle, ship, container, etc.) with a large amount of something
They go to Calais to load up their vans with cheap beer
Loading
An addition to an insurance premium.
Load
Make (someone or something) carry or hold a large or excessive quantity of heavy things
Elaine was loaded down with bags full of shopping
Loading
(Electricity) The addition of inductance to a transmission line to improve its transmission characteristics.
Load
Charge (a firearm) with ammunition
He began to load the gun
Loading
The process by which something is loaded.
The loading of hazardous cargoes is not permitted.
Load
Add an extra charge to (an insurance premium) to take account of a factor that increases the risk.
Loading
(countable) A load, especially in the engineering and electrical engineering senses of force exerted, or electrical current or power supplied.
I need to recheck the loadings on the external walls.
The loading on the generators peaks during the early evening.
Load
A weight or mass that is supported
The load on an arch.
Loading
A hourly pay rate given to a casual employee which is higher than the equivalent full-time or part-time employee's rate, usually paid to compensate for a lack of benefits such as sick leave or annual leave.
Load
The overall force to which a structure is subjected in supporting a weight or mass or in resisting externally applied forces.
Loading
A weighting or bias.
Load
Something that is carried, as by a vehicle, person, or animal
A load of firewood.
Loading
Present participle of load
Load
The quantity that is or can be carried at one time.
Loading
The act of putting a load on or into.
Load
The share of work allocated to or required of a person, machine, group, or organization.
Loading
A load; cargo; burden.
Load
The demand for services or performance made on a machine or system.
Loading
Weight to be borne or conveyed
Load
The amount of material that can be inserted into a device or machine at one time
The washing machine has a full load.
Loading
A quantity that can be processed or transported at one time;
The system broke down under excessive loads
Load
A single charge of ammunition for a firearm.
Loading
The ratio of the gross weight of an airplane to some factor determining its lift
Load
Vulgar Slang An ejaculation of semen.
Loading
Goods carried by a large vehicle
Load
A mental weight or burden
Good news took a load off my mind.
Loading
The labor of loading something;
The loading took 2 hours
Load
A responsibility regarded as oppressive.
Loading
Designed for use in loading e.g. cargo;
A loading dock
A loading chute is used to drive cattle into a truck or other conveyance
Load
The external mechanical resistance against which a machine acts.
Loading
In terms of firearms, loading is the act of inserting ammunition.
Carefully, she started loading the rifle.
Load
The power output of a generator or power plant.
Load
A device or the resistance of a device to which power is delivered.
Load
A fee that a mutual fund charges to an investor when the investor purchases or redeems shares in the fund.
Load
Often loads(Informal) A great number or amount
There were loads of people at the parade.
Load
Derogatory Slang A heavy or overweight person.
Load
Genetic load.
Load
To put (something) into or onto a structure or conveyance
Loading grain onto a train.
Load
To put something into or onto (a structure or conveyance)
Loaded the tanker with crude oil.
Load
To provide or fill nearly to overflowing; heap
Loaded the table with food.
Load
To give worries or difficulties to; weigh down; burden
Was loaded with responsibility.
Load
To insert (a necessary material) into a device
Loaded rounds into the rifle.
Load
To insert a necessary material into
Loaded the printer with paper.
Load
(Games) To make (dice) heavier on one side by adding weight.
Load
To charge with additional meanings, implications, or emotional import
Loaded the question to trick the witness.
Load
To raise the power demand in (an electrical circuit), as by adding resistance.
Load
To increase (an insurance premium or mutual fund share price) by adding expenses or sale costs.
Load
(Baseball) To have or put runners on (first, second, and third base).
Load
(Computers) To transfer (data) from a storage device into a computer's memory.
Load
To receive a load
Container ships can load rapidly.
Load
To charge a firearm with ammunition.
Load
To put or place a load into or onto a structure, device, or conveyance.
Load
(Computers) To be transferred from a storage device into a computer's memory.
Load
A burden; a weight to be carried.
I struggled up the hill with the heavy load in my rucksack.
Load
(figuratively) A worry or concern to be endured, especially in the phrase a load off one's mind.
Load
A certain number of articles or quantity of material that can be transported or processed at one time.
The truck overturned while carrying a full load of oil.
She put another load of clothes in the washing machine.
Load
A quantity of washing put into a washing machine for a wash cycle.
I put a load on before we left.
Load
(in combination) Used to form nouns that indicate a large quantity, often corresponding to the capacity of a vehicle
Load
A large number or amount.
I got loads of presents for my birthday!
I got a load of emails about that.
Load
The volume of work required to be performed.
Will our web servers be able to cope with that load?
Load
(engineering) The force exerted on a structural component such as a beam, girder, cable etc.
Each of the cross-members must withstand a tensile load of 1,000 newtons.
Load
(electrical engineering) The electrical current or power delivered by a device.
I'm worried that the load on that transformer will be too high.
Load
(engineering) A resistive force encountered by a prime mover when performing work.
Load
(electrical engineering) Any component that draws current or power from an electrical circuit.
Connect a second 24-ohm load across the power supply's output terminals.
Load
A unit of measure for various quantities.
Load
The viral load
Load
A very small explosive inserted as a gag into a cigarette or cigar.
Load
The charge of powder for a firearm.
Load
(obsolete) Weight or violence of blows.
Load
The contents (e.g. semen) of an ejaculation.
Load
(euphemism) Nonsense; rubbish.
What a load!
Load
(computing) The process of loading something, i.e. transferring it into memory or over a network, etc.
All of those uncompressed images are going to slow down the page load.
Load
(Philippines) prepaid phone credit
Load
A person that spends all day online. The term was originally used in the late 1980s to describe users on free Q-Link (later America Online) accounts who never signed off the system at great expense to the company.
She never logs off; she is a real LOAD!
Load
(transitive) To put a load on or in (a means of conveyance or a place of storage).
The dock workers refused to load the ship.
Load
(transitive) To place in or on a conveyance or a place of storage.
The longshoremen loaded the cargo quickly.
He loaded his stuff into his storage locker.
Load
(intransitive) To put a load on something.
The truck was supposed to leave at dawn, but in fact we spent all morning loading.
Load
(intransitive) To receive a load.
The truck is designed to load easily.
Load
(intransitive) To be placed into storage or conveyance.
The containers load quickly and easily.
Load
(transitive) To fill (a firearm or artillery) with munition.
I pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I had forgotten to load the gun.
Load
(transitive) To insert (an item or items) into an apparatus so as to ready it for operation, such as a reel of film into a camera, sheets of paper into a printer etc.
Now that you've loaded the film [into the camera], you're ready to start shooting.
Now that you've loaded the camera [with film], you're ready to start shooting.
Load
(transitive) To fill (an apparatus) with raw material.
The workers loaded the blast furnace with coke and ore.
Load
(intransitive) To be put into use in an apparatus.
The cartridge was designed to load easily.
Load
To read (data or a program) from a storage medium into computer memory.
Click OK to load the selected data.
Load
To transfer from a storage medium into computer memory.
This program takes an age to load.
Load
To put runners on first, second and third bases
He walks to load the bases.
Load
(transitive) To tamper with so as to produce a biased outcome.
You can load the dice in your favour by researching the company before your interview.
The wording of the ballot paper loaded the vote in favour of the Conservative candidate.
Load
(transitive) To ask or adapt a question so that it will be more likely to be answered in a certain way.
Load
(transitive) To encumber with something negative, to place as an encumbrance.
The new owners had loaded the company with debt.
The new owners loaded debt on the company.
Load
(transitive) To provide in abundance.
He loaded his system with carbs before the marathon.
He loaded carbs into his system before the marathon.
Load
(transitive) To weight (a cane, whip, etc.) with lead or similar.
Load
To adulterate or drug.
To load wine
Load
To magnetize.
Load
(Philippines) to top up or purchase phone credits
Load
A burden; that which is laid on or put in anything for conveyance; that which is borne or sustained; a weight; as, a heavy load.
He might such a loadTo town with his ass carry.
Load
The quantity which can be carried or drawn in some specified way; the contents of a cart, barrow, or vessel; that which will constitute a cargo; lading.
Load
That which burdens, oppresses, or grieves the mind or spirits; as, a load of care.
Load
A particular measure for certain articles, being as much as may be carried at one time by the conveyance commonly used for the article measured; as, a load of wood; a load of hay; specifically, five quarters.
Load
The charge of a firearm; as, a load of powder.
Load
Weight or violence of blows.
Load
The work done by a steam engine or other prime mover when working.
Load
The amount of work that a person, group, or machine is assigned to perform; as, the boss distributed the load evenly among his employees.
Load
The device or devices that consume power from a power supply.
Load
The weight or force that a structural support bears or is designed to bear; the object that creates that force.
Load
To lay a load or burden on or in, as on a horse or in a cart; to charge with a load, as a gun; to furnish with a lading or cargo, as a ship; hence, to add weight to, so as to oppress or embarrass; to heap upon.
I strive all in vain to load the cart.
I have loaden me with many spoils.
Those honors deep and broad, wherewithYour majesty loads our house.
Load
To adulterate or drug; as, to load wine.
Load
To magnetize.
Load
Weight to be borne or conveyed
Load
A quantity that can be processed or transported at one time;
The system broke down under excessive loads
Load
Goods carried by a large vehicle
Load
An amount of alcohol sufficient to intoxicate;
He got a load on and started a brawl
Load
The power output of a generator or power plant
Load
An onerous or difficult concern;
The burden of responsibility
That's a load off my mind
Load
A deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks
Load
The front part of a guided missile or rocket or torpedo that carries the nuclear or explosive charge or the chemical or biological agents
Load
Electrical device to which electrical power is delivered
Load
Fill or place a load on;
Load a car
Load the truck with hay
Load
Provide with munition;
He loaded his gun carefully
Load
Put (something) on a structure or conveyance;
Load the bags onto the trucks
Load
A load is the cargo or the weight carried by a vehicle or person.
The truck is designed to carry a maximum load of 10 tons.
Load
A load can also mean a burden or a lot of something.
He carried the load of old memories with him.
Load
In computing, a load is the information processed by a computer.
The system crashed under the heavy load.
Load
Load is the term for putting ammunition into a gun.
Load your weapons; we're going into battle.
Common Curiosities
Is 'load' always physical?
No, load can also refer to an electrical load or a computational data load.
What does loading mean in transportation?
Loading refers to the process of placing goods onto a vehicle for transport.
What does a 'loading dock' refer to?
A loading dock is a platform where goods are loaded onto vehicles.
What does 'load-bearing' mean?
Load-bearing describes a structure or wall that supports weight.
Can load be used as a verb?
Yes, to load means to put cargo onto a conveyance.
What is 'loading time'?
Loading time is the duration taken to load goods or data onto a system.
In software, what does 'load balancing' mean?
Load balancing distributes workloads across multiple computing resources.
Can loading have an abstract meaning?
Yes, it can also refer to an increase in responsibility or pressure.
Is loading speed relevant in computing?
Yes, it indicates how fast data is loaded into memory or a program starts.
Does loading apply to data transfer?
Yes, in computing, loading refers to data being read or transferred into memory.
How is 'load' used in the context of electricity?
Load refers to the amount of electric power drawn from a system.
What does it mean to 'take a load off'?
It's an idiomatic expression meaning to relax or reduce someone's burden.
What's a load limit?
A load limit is the maximum weight that can be legally or safely carried.
What is an example of a load in construction?
A load in construction refers to the weight supported by a structure.
Does loading only refer to the initial placement of goods?
No, it can also refer to the ongoing process of adding or moving goods.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
