▪ I. cargo, n.1
(ˈkɑːgəʊ)
Also 8 cargoe. Pl. cargoes.
[17th c. a. Sp. cargo loading, burthen, or perhaps carga load, freight, cargo, in It. carico, carica, med.L. carricum, carrica load, f. late L. carricāre to load, f. carrus car: see charge.]
1. a. The freight or lading of a ship, a ship-load.
| 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes 8 As we had Cause to suspect him for the Cask, so wee had for the Cargo. 1697 H. Pollexfen Disc. Trade & Coyn 116 The Ships Adventure and Bristol, whose Cargoes cost in England about 60000l. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4151/4 The Catharine Maurice..with her Cargo of Brown Sugar and Ginger. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 7 We had a very rich cargo on board. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 321 The specie was leaving the country in cargoes. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxii. 67 Having discharged her cargo and taken in ballast. |
† b. A bill of lading.
Obs.—0 (
Cf. cargason 2.)
| 1678 Littleton Lat. Dict., A cargo or Bill of lading or list of goods, mercium catalogus. 1721 Bailey, Cargo..Also a Bill of Lading, or List of the Goods of a Ship. |
2. a. transf. (
cf. load).
† b. slang. (see
quot. 1690.)
| 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Cargo, a good round Sum of Money about a Man. 1714 H. Grove Spect. No. 558 ¶5 Advancing towards the Heap, with a larger Cargo than ordinary upon his Back. a 1762 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. xciv. 155, I am promised a cargo of lampoons from Bath. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. xxxi, A cargo of novels. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. xv, Six were intended for riding, and four for carrying cargoes. |
3. Comb., chiefly
attrib., as
cargo-boat,
cargo-book,
cargo-fall,
cargo-hold,
cargo liner,
cargo-man,
cargo-port (an opening in the side of a ship for delivering cargo),
cargo-rice,
cargo-ship,
cargo-steamer,
cargo-winch;
cargo-cult (see
quots.).
| 1859 Merc. Mar. Mag. (1860) VII. 8 *Cargo boats conveying goods to Canton from Ships. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Cargo-book, shows the mark, number, quality, and (if measurement goods) the dimensions of such packages of a ship's cargo. |
| 1949 Sydney Morning Herald 18 June 2/4 The fantastic ‘*cargo cult’ among New Guinea natives has become a serious problem for Australian administrators... Natives influenced by it believe that the spirits of their ancestors will arrive shortly in ships and aeroplanes carrying cargoes of food, tobacco, axes, and other goods. 1951 R. Firth Elem. Soc. Organization iii. 112 The extraordinary economic operations of some groups, particularly in what has been termed the Cargo cults of some of the New Guinea natives. 1966 ‘E. Lindall’ Time too Soon (1967) iii. 26 The cargo cults, in which the cultists sat waiting for ships to come sailing from America laden with all the luxuries and gee-gaws of white civilisation. |
| 1924 R. Clements Gipsy of Horn viii. 151 Making the harpoon-line fast to the *cargo-fall. |
| 1920 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 316/2 The *cargo-holds were refurbished. |
| 1922 Glasgow Herald 14 June, A homeward bound *cargoman. |
| 1832 J. R. McCulloch Dict. Commerce 908 There are an immense number of different sorts of rice. The rice exported from Bengal is chiefly of the species denominated *cargo rice. |
| 1884 St. James's Gaz. 10 Apr. 5/1 The owners of *cargoships and steamers. |
| 1907 Motor Boat 19 Sept. 190/2 A good, simple, and cheap *cargo winch. |
¶ See also
carga.
▸
cargo pants n. orig. and chiefly
U.S. a pair of casual trousers with two or more large, external pockets on the side of each leg, available in various styles but typically loose-fitting and made of cotton.
| 1951 N.Y. Times 28 Jan. f12/5 (advt.) Army & Navy type dress oxfords, para-troop, combat boots,..coveralls, *cargo pants, underwear, and military apparel. 1982 N.Y. Times Mag. 2 May 102/3 A band-collared suede shirt that can be neatly paired with his new cargo pants. 1997 Eddie Bauer Catal. Fall 91/2 With so many pockets, it's easy to see why these are called Cargo Pants... Inside leg: Regular 81 cm... Vintage... Sand... Olive... Khaki. 2000 J. Grisham Brethren 325 He wore baggy cargo pants with pockets from the waist down, two denim shirts, and an oversized windbreaker. |
▸
cargo trousers n. orig. U.S. (now chiefly
Brit.)
= cargo pants n. at Additions.
| 1984 Daily News Rec. (U.S.) 13 Nov. 16 Big duster coats, tight-fitting tanks, baggy *cargo trousers and Bermudas, and roomy camp shirts were offered in sheer silk chiffon, wool jersey and cotton sheeting. 1999 Index Extra Catal. Spring–Summer 39 Slim fit cargo trousers with flat front detail. |
▪ II. † ˈcargo, n.2 Obs. [Both of the following uses seem explicable from the senses of the Sp. cargo, carga burden, load, weight, bundle, fardle, truss, etc.; but they appear earlier than the prec., and have no contact with it in Eng. There is however no evidence that
cargo was so used in
Sp. The suggestion that the exclamation was meant for the
Sp. caˈrājo, appears phonetically out of the question, as does that of its being for
It. coraggio (
koˈraddʒo).]
1. A contemptuous term applied to a person.
| 1602 B. Jonson Poetast. v. iii, A couple of condemn'd caitiue calumnious Cargo's. |
2. As an exclamation or imprecation.
| 1607 G. Wilkins Miseries Enf. Marr. iv. in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 533 But cargo! my fiddlestick cannot play without rosin. 1615 Albumaz. in Dodsley (1780) VII. 251 Twenty pound a year For three good lives? Cargo! hai Trincalo! |
▪ III. cargo, v. (
ˈkɑːgəʊ)
[f. cargo1.] trans. To load. Also, to carry as cargo; to package (goods) for distribution. Hence
ˈcargoed ppl. a.| 1889 Guardian 10 July 1050/3 In the race for literary immortality the heavy Spanish galleon may be cargoed with golden ingots. 1892 Congress. Rec. 18 Mar. 2188/1 Pelts and peltries, and anything else the teamster may be cargoed with. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 5 Nov. 2/3 Our ship with store of cargoed memories. 1924 R. Macaulay Orphan Island i. 15 They were for leaving the island with the two boats, cargoed with fruit and cocoa-nuts. 1934 Dylan Thomas in New Verse June 8 And drown the cargoed apples in their tides. 1959 Amer. Speech XXXIV. 159 Cargo that pile of beds. 1984 Times 1 Mar. 1/8 They found new British Leyland cars waiting to be cargoed to Switzerland, the keys were in the ignitions. |