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Glite Dictionary
🪨 A heavy burden 🚢 Ship's carrying weight ⚖️ A test weight
deadweight

deadweight

1 6.8
The total weight a ship can safely carry including cargo and crew
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛdˌweɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : peso muerto
  • The cargo ship has a deadweight of 50,000 tons, allowing it to carry a significant amount of goods across the ocean.
  • deadweight tons

Examples

  • Deadweight refers to the weight of a ship at its loaded condition (the crew, passengers, cargo, fuel).

    Academic text (2009)

  • Kazmortransflot has grown from leasing 8 tankers in 2001 to now owning 5 commissioned ships with a deadweight capacity of 12,000 tons.

    Academic text (2007)

  • More than 10,000 vessels of greater than 10,000 deadweight tons (dwt) move southward through the South China Sea annually, with well over 8,000 proceeding in the opposite direction.

    Academic text (2005)

  • In maritime terms, deadweight refers to the total weight that a vessel can safely transport, including its cargo and fuel.

  • When the ship was fully loaded, its deadweight registered at 80,000 tons, making it one of the largest in its class.

Synonyms

tonnage
vsdeadweight
  • Specialized
3 4.5

The total weight or amount a ship can carry measured in tons

lists specific included items like cargo fuel supplies and crew
dwt
vsdeadweight
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Total weight a ship can safely carry including cargo, fuel, crew, and supplies

is the full written term rather than the short form

How Loaded

deadweight
  • Specialized
1 6.8
shipload
3 2.5

Surface Forms

deadweight singular
deadweights plural

Morphology

deadweight = dead + weight (semi-transparent) = dead + weight

The maritime/technical sense 'deadweight' as total carrying capacity is built from the same components but has become a specialized measurement term that is not obvious from the parts to an average learner.

Etymology

Deadweight in shipping keeps the same parts, dead and weight, and gives the idea of the total load that does not move itself. So on a ship, 'deadweight' is the total weight the ship can safely carry, like cargo, fuel, and crew.