as in cargo
heavy material (such as rocks or water) that is put on a ship to make it steady or on a balloon to control its height in the air
—often used figuratively
A large amount of ballast kept the boat from capsizing. She provided the ballast the family needed in times of stress.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ballast
The installation incorporates robust mooring systems, wave breakers and ballast anchors to ensure stability in varying conditions.
—
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2025
And bonds typically offer ballast during stock market routs.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Stronger ballast water regulations developed through the agency’s research have helped prevent new invasions in the Great Lakes.
—Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 28 Feb. 2025
Without sufficient ballast, its word balloons threaten to float charmingly away.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2025
And bonds typically offer ballast during stock market routs.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Stronger ballast water regulations developed through the agency’s research have helped prevent new invasions in the Great Lakes.
—Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 28 Feb. 2025
Without sufficient ballast, its word balloons threaten to float charmingly away.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballast
Noun
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This may be seen as mildly supportive of spot prices in Asia for cargoes to the region, but currently unlikely to morph into a war premium for either India or Pakistan given the sheer volume of crude out in the market.—
Gaurav Sharma,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
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Unfortunately, the Planetary Alliance gang insist on treating Murderbot like one of the team, inviting it to ride in their transport vehicle (instead of the cargo bay, where SecUnits usually travel) and giving it a crew uniform to wear when its armor is damaged.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
12 May 2025
Noun
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Vince indicated that the increase in the gross margin rate was primarily driven by about 320 basis points due to lower promotional activity in the direct-to-consumer segment and lower discounting, and about 210 basis points related to lower product and freight costs.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
2 May 2025
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This has caused a current drop in air freight demand as companies figure out their tariff strategy.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
1 May 2025
Noun
-
Alongside the rest of Toronto’s rotation depth, Turnbull and Ureña should help ease the load at the top of the Blue Jays’ rotation.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
-
Because she is paid per load, Helen’s income does not meet the minimum wage when there are too few jobs available.—
Caroline Petrow-Cohen,
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2025
Noun
-
The Naugatuck train station is a small plexiglass box with a single bench, a lone dot in the expanse of the concrete parking lot, just across from the loading dock of a post office.—
Ginny Monk,
Hartford Courant,
10 May 2025
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There’s a small receiving room for customers to pick up or drop off bottles and a loading dock for the larger orders.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
10 May 2025
Noun
-
SpaceX's Starship, with roughly 10 times more payload lift capacity than Neutron, is also on contract with AFRL for demonstrations for the Rocket Cargo program.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 May 2025
-
Neutron is Electron's medium-lift successor, built for larger payloads and national security missions.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
9 May 2025
Noun
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One example can be as simple as shipments that are missing bills of lading or origin documents.—
Forbes,
Forbes,
1 June 2021
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According to bills of lading and other records provided to the San Antonio Express-News by officials at 23 food banks, CRE8AD8 delivered about 147,000 boxes total to food banks.—
Tom Orsborn,
ExpressNews.com,
1 July 2020
Noun
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Managers are juggling the dual burden of pressure from superiors and the well-being of their teams amid return-to-office mandates, massive layoffs, tariff threats and economic uncertainty.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
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Trade experts also note that to comply with the law, importers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now face a new administrative challenge: the burden of inspecting millions of additional packages daily.—
Megan Cerullo,
CBS News,
2 May 2025
Noun
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Losing that 200 pounds of deadweight has freed me up to focus on advancing my career.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Apr. 2025
-
Losing that 200 pounds of deadweight freed me up to focus on advancing my career.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
6 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ballast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballast. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
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