load line
- noun
- Specialized
:
línea de carga
- Before setting sail, the captain checked the load line to ensure the ship was not overloaded.
Examples
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During the inspection, the crew made sure the load line was clearly visible above the waterline.
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The load line on the ship's hull indicates how much cargo it can safely carry.
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And notice that this is the region of the load line articulated when the input is of this this magnitude.
Synonyms
A mark on a ship that shows the highest safe water level when loaded
A painted line on a ship's hull showing the safe level to load it
A painted line on the side of a ship that shows how high it can be safely loaded
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning can be directly inferred from combining 'load' (the cargo/weight carried) with 'line' (a mark): it denotes a mark related to loading depth on a ship. Although nautical, this noun–noun descriptive composition is straightforward and follows common cross‑linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words could reasonably deduce the meaning.
Etymology
Load line comes from marks painted on the side of a ship that show how low the ship can sit in the water when it is 'safely loaded'. The parts load (what the ship carries) and line (the mark on the side) give a clear picture, so the term means the marked line showing the maximum safe depth for loading.
