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Glite Dictionary
📦 To unload goods 📝 To give tasks 💾 To move data
to offload

to offload

1 5.1
To move data or work from one device to another
  • verb
  • /ˈɔfˌloʊd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : descargar
  • Anyway, not helpful when I'm offloading footage on a video set or something like that.

Examples

  • It can also help you find Wi-Fi spots to offload data from your carrier and become more aggressive as your data limit is reached.

    Blog text (8)

  • You just drag the files you want to offload into the spanning area, pick a location to offload them to, and then click 'Span'.

    Blog text (28)

  • Make sure that if you try to offload, you use a fast transfer method.

    Blog text (25)

  • A memory card with a fast read speed can help me offload those images in minutes instead of hours.

    Blog text (26)

  • We try to offload our iPads and iPhones on WiFi at home and out in the wild as often as possible.

    Blog text (24)

  • Faster wireless networks make it possible to artificially boost the power of a mobile device by offloading processing power to the cloud.

    Blog text (29)

  • Sprint plans to offload excess LTE data traffic onto Clearwire's network.

    Blog text (20)

  • To solve this problem, some researchers have proposed offloading more TCP functionality to the hypervisor.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Ever since 3dfx launched the original Voodoo 3D accelerator, we've strived to offload more and more work to a dedicated GPU, leaving the CPU free to handle other tasks.

    Blog text (21)

  • You can offload large files to the cloud to free up space on your device.

Synonyms

to upload
vsto offload
179 3.2

To send a file from your computer to the internet or a server

focuses on moving processing tasks or runtime work rather than simple file transfer
to migrate
vsto offload
  • Specialized
17 4.3

To move data or apps from one computer system to another, for example to the cloud

focuses on shifting work to another system to reduce local processing load

How Distributed

to outsource
65 5.3
to offload
  • Specialized
1 5.1
to delegate
45 3.7
to hand off
  • US
22 3.7

Surface Forms

offload infinitive
offloaded past
offloaded past participle
offloading present participle
offloads third person singular

Morphology

offload = load (semi-transparent) = off + load

The computing sense is a metaphorical extension ('remove load from a device'), so while logically derivable it requires domain knowledge and is less obvious to a general B1 learner.

Etymology

Offload comes from the parts off ('away') and load ('a weight or goods'), and by the same image in computing it means moving a 'load' of data or work away to another device to free space. So offloading files is like unloading a truck but for your computer.