loaded, ppl. a.
(ˈləʊdɪd)
[f. load v. + -ed1.]
1. a. Charged, burdened, laden, etc. (see the verb).
| 1661 Feltham Resolves ii. lxxxv. 375 When 'tis ripe..it downward turns its loaded head. 1682 Otway Venice Preserv'd i. 10 If thou art alter'd, where shall I have harbour? Where ease my loaded Heart? 1693 G. Stepny in Dryden's Juvenal (1697) 195 To turn a Mill, or drag a Loaded Life Beneath two Panniers. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 218 As now in louder Peals the loaded Winds Bring on the gath'ring Storm. 1766 Smollett Hist. Eng. (1804) V. 262 Many loaded guns went off while the houses were burning. 1785 F. Burney Lett. 25 Aug., When⁓ever we are quite alone, she now unburthens her loaded heart. 1821 Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 325 He who sets a loaded gun means it should go off if it is touched. 1830 Examiner 107/1 A loaded cart. 1889 Ruskin Præterita III. 107 The loaded apple trees in the orchard. |
b. Weighted, esp. with lead, as a loaded stick, loaded whip. loaded dice: dice in which lead is inserted in order to make them fall with a particular face upwards.
| 1771 Wesley Jrnl. 7 June, With his loaded whip, [he] struck Nancy A― on the temple. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 302 He says but little, and that little said Owes all its weight, like loaded dice, to lead. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 27 The surface should be well worked with loaded harrows. 1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Eng. 111 The water still driven by the plunger..goes on to the loaded valve. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Loaded Cushion, a lady's table pincushion for fastening work to, and which is loaded with lead. 1889 J. M. Robertson Christ & Krishna xv. 86 One is flogged to death with loaded whips. |
¶ c. Charged with magnetism, magnetized. [After loadstone.]
| 1717 Prior Alma ii. 225 Great Kings to Wars are pointed forth, Like loaded Needles to the North. |
d. fig. Charged with some hidden implication or underlying suggestion; biased, prejudiced.
| 1942 College English Oct. 16 General Semantics..being metaphysical in a particularly partial and dogmatic sense..can yield us only a vocabulary of ‘loaded’ general words, calculated to distort rather than to illuminate the writings of any other school. 1957 Observer 29 Dec. 9/2 Is our popular preference for plays of less blatant sexuality a mark of higher civilisation or merely of greater hypocrisy? Is the Dionysiac cult..more childish or simply more honest than the religious practices that have succeeded it in the West?.. These are loaded questions, I admit. 1958 Times 7 July 13/2 You cannot solve the riddle of the universe by giving the answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to a loaded question. 1961 Listener 7 Dec. 991/3 He chose to use emotionally loaded words like ‘scare’ and ‘infection’. 1975 D. Bagley Snow Tiger xi. 96 It is improper of Mr Smithers to ask such a loaded question... He is usurping the function of this commission. |
2. In technical use. Of wine: Adulterated so as to appear full-bodied. Of the tongue: Thickly furred. Of the liver: Charged with excess of bile. Of the urine: Surcharged with salts, etc. Of a muscle: Subjected to a ‘load’ (see load n. 3 e). Of a camera: with a film inserted. Of a film: inserted (in a camera) (cf. load v. 5 b). In Electr., of a telephone line, etc. (cf. load v. 3 c). In insurance: of a life (cf. load v. 10).
| 1860–1 Thackeray Lovel iii. 193 Loaded claret, and sweet port. 1875 B. Meadows Clin. Observ. 12 Tongue is now somewhat loaded in a morning. 1888 Judge (U.S.) 20 Oct. 27/1 (Advt.), The Kodak Camera..Loaded for 100 instantaneous views. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 17 The stimulation of the intestinal glands..relieves the ‘loaded’ liver. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xxi. 339 Furred tongue, scanty, high-coloured, loaded urine. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 925 A loaded does more work than an unloaded muscle. 1901 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. XVII. 475 Propagation of electrical waves over a periodically loaded loop..is compared to that over a uniform loop. 1903 Phil. Mag. V. 313 The loaded line discussed in this paper is an electrical circuit of two long parallel conducting wires having self-induction coils inserted at regular intervals. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 709/2 In 1911 Messrs. Siemens introduced a form of balata dielectric as a substitute for gutta⁓percha in loaded submarine cables... The effect was to reduce materially the attenuation constant and increase the range of speech in loaded cables. 1928 Daily Express 10 May 11/6 The application was refused in the first instance, and only afterwards accepted as a ‘loaded’ life. 1937 Discovery Apr. 112/2 Little..envelopes, in which glass plates and flat films are sold ready loaded. 1968 Radio Communication Handbk. (ed. 4) xvi. 33/1 While the centre loaded aerial may be the best radiator, on the lower frequency bands, particularly 1·8 Mc/s and 3·5 Mc/s, mechanical considerations may have to influence the loading coil position. |
3. U.S. slang. a. Drunk.
| 1890 in Century Dict. 1892 Voice (N.Y.) 28 July, A Democrat who stood on the sidewalk made this uncharitable exclamation as S. stepped into a carriage: ‘He's loaded’. 1897 in Barrère & Leland Slang. |
b. Drugged; under the influence of drugs; containing a drug. (Cf. load n. 5 a.)
| 1923 J. F. Fishman Crucibles of Crime vi. 126 It was discovered that each of them [sc. handkerchiefs] has a small ink mark in one of the corners..these handkerchiefs had been dipped in cocaine... The mark in the corner notified the ‘snowbird’ that it was ‘loaded’. 1928 J. Tully Circus Parade xviii. 237 When guys are loaded up on heroin it'll give 'em more nerve. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie xii. 120 To get really loaded, you would need four papers. Ibid. xv. 147 He was loaded on H and goof-balls. 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed xi. 74 ‘I'm gorgeous,’ she said. ‘Loaded and gorgeous.’ |
4. Rich; extremely wealthy. slang (orig. U.S.).
| [1910 O. Johnson Varmint iv. 60 He's just loaded with the spondulix.] 1948 Call-Bulletin (San Francisco) 16 July 10/4 Lonely but loaded, a carpenter newly returned from Guam was taken for a ride by six young women. 1949 A. Hynd We are Public Enemies i. 20 The boys were loaded after the safety deposit opening and the money was burning their pockets. 1952 ‘J. Tey’ Singing Sands xi. 172 He slapped his pocket, ‘I'm loaded.’ 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades i. iv. 23 ‘Is your Dad rich?’..‘He's reasonably loaded.’ 1971 D. O'Connor Eye of Eagle v. 32 Adriana's a very popular girl and there are guys here who are absolutely loaded. |
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Add: [4.] b. Of a car (or occas. other item) for sale: equipped with optional extras, de luxe; containing more than the standard equipment. N. Amer. colloq.
| 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 38/5 (Advt.), 1965 Buick Wildcat. Loaded, immaculate. 1976 Washington Post 19 Apr. c23/1 (Advt.), Loaded car, very sharp. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 5-d/7 (Advt.), Luxury living on modest budget 2 bdrm's & loaded! 1991 Times (Florence, Alabama) Daily 16 Apr. b10/5 (Advt.), 1983 Honda Accord. 4-door, automatic, loaded. |