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# boatload

«boatload» in Mova's school dictionary: **The number of people or the amount of goods a boat can…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a boatload, boatloads)

### meaning for a pupil

1) The number of people or the amount of goods a boat can carry or is carrying. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#m1)

2) (informal) A very large number or amount of something: «a boatload of homework». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history: boatloads of settlers, convicts or refugees crossing the sea. In maths problems: «Each boatload holds 12 people; how many boatloads for 60 people?» – a division problem, and you must round up if there is a remainder, because a part-full boat still has to make a trip. Informally it means «lots». Phrases: «a boatload of», «by the boatload».

### examples

- A boatload of tourists arrived at the island. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#x1)
- The first boatloads of convicts reached Australia in 1788. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#x2)
- The ferry can take a boatload of 40 cars. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#x3)
- We got a boatload of presents for my birthday! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#x4)
- If each boatload holds 8 children, 30 children need 4 boatloads. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#x5)
- Fish were brought to the harbour by the boatload. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/#x6)

### note

Countable: one boatload, two boatloads. Maths trap: 30 ÷ 8 = 3 remainder 6, so you need 4 boatloads, not 3. The informal «a boatload of» means «a lot of» and is not used in formal writing.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «boatload» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/boatload/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.