boatload

American

[boht-lohd] / ˈboʊtˌloʊd /

noun

the cargo that a vessel carries or is capable of carrying.

boatload British

/ ˈbəʊtˌləʊd /

noun

the amount of cargo or number of people held by a boat or ship

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of boatload

First recorded in 1670–80; boat + load

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Casting directors are on the lookout for real people who will let hosts, cameramen and crew with a boatload of TV equipment tag along for the ride during a renovation or house hunt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025

"It's frustrating. That money is going to players who are making an absolute boatload anyway," Murray, who has won three US Open mixed titles, told BBC Sport.

From BBC • Aug. 19, 2025

And that's strange since there have been a boatload of them.

From Salon • Apr. 30, 2025

Most know they came by the boatload from England in the early 1600s, searching for their religious freedom.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2025

He detected the strength of the gossamer threads of affection that sometimes grew between a pair of young men or among a boatload of them striving honestly to do their best.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023