ballasts

plural of ballast
as in cargoes
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.

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballasts
Noun
  • Designer Hillary Taymour sent voluminous denim cargos with peplum at the waist down the runway.
    Footwear News, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Not long before Oprah showed off her brown cargos, Gwyneth Paltrow wore a navy blue pair with a cropped trench coat.
    Alyssa Grabinski, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The Silos’ Food Truck Park also offers a range of local vendors with loads of meals and drinks to enjoy all day long.
    Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Choose storage with wheels This trunk with wheels can be moved depending on needs; plus, with all its ample room, it can be filled with loads of extra clothes and necessities for the home, like paper towels and toilet paper rolls, until they are needed inside the house.
    Michelle Mastro, Architectural Digest, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • However, arms control agreements limit current loadings to four or five.
    Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 22 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • SpaceX additionally benefits from billions of dollars in contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense by providing launch services for classified satellites and other payloads.
    Eric Lagatta, AZCentral.com, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The new version will be used for Starship’s first orbital flights and will help SpaceX test key procedures, such as transferring fuel and carrying payloads into space, SpaceX officials wrote in a post following Monday’s test.
    Denise Chow, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Many kitchen stores sell pie weights, oven-safe ceramic or metal balls that are used for this purpose.
    Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 25 Oct. 2025
  • These items were then given individual weights for their effect on the total score.
    Jordan Green, Nashville Tennessean, 22 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The department will be asking the state legislature for $120 million in additional funding, but the money is not guaranteed to be approved, particularly in the face of budget uncertainty after Congress passed a bill in July that puts new financial burdens on states.
    Elliot Haspel, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Pujols is well-acquainted, too, with the burdens of being the face of a franchise with World Series title aspirations every year.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Twenty-ounce domestic drafts are $10 at most food stands.
    Lori Punko, Denver Post, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Weather stripping goes around the base and sides of your door to reduce drafts.
    Christopher Murray may earn a commission if you buy through our referral links. This content was created by a team that works independently from the Fox newsroom., FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ballasts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballasts. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on ballasts

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!