deadweight
Drag on progress
Deadweight is a heavy, inert mass that is difficult to move—literally, weight that is dead rather than animate.
A person who is unconscious or uncooperative becomes deadweight when you try to carry or move them.
The term extends to anything that burdens without contributing: The committee was carrying too much deadweight.
In shipping, deadweight tonnage measures the total weight a vessel can safely carry, including cargo, fuel, and crew.
Resistance through fluid
- hindranceBarrier to progress
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
- encumbranceHindrance or legal claim
- millstoneGrain-crushing circular stone
albatross · obstacle · impediment · useless · unproductive · parasite · freeloader · baggage
Ship's weight capacity
- cargoTransported goods
- displacementRemoval from usual location
- vesselReceptacle for contents
- freightGoods being transported
hull · ballast · maritime · load · capacity · gross · net · register
Incapable of being shifted
- limpLacking firmness or rigidity
- lifelessDevoid of animation
- unconsciousNot awake or aware
- heavyOf great mass
unwieldy · cumbersome · sagging · slack · passive · inert · motionless · dragging
Being without something
- taxationCompulsory government revenue collection
- inefficiencySuboptimal use of resources
- distortionTwisting from original state
- welfareComfort and prosperity
subsidy · tariff · monopoly · surplus · misallocation · rent-seeking · market · triangle
drag
Resistance through fluid
- hindranceBarrier to progress
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
- encumbranceHindrance or legal claim
millstone · albatross · obstacle · impediment · useless · unproductive · parasite · freeloader · baggage · anchor
tonnage
Ship's weight capacity
- cargoTransported goods
- displacementRemoval from usual location
- vesselReceptacle for contents
freight · hull · ballast · maritime · load · capacity · gross · net · register · measurement
immovable
Incapable of being shifted
- limpLacking firmness or rigidity
- lifelessDevoid of animation
- unconsciousNot awake or aware
heavy · unwieldy · cumbersome · sagging · slack · passive · inert · motionless · dragging · leaden
loss
Being without something
- taxationCompulsory government revenue collection
- inefficiencySuboptimal use of resources
- distortionTwisting from original state
welfare · subsidy · tariff · monopoly · surplus · misallocation · rent-seeking · market · triangle · consumer
- cargocargo, freight, shipment, payload, goods
- burdensburden, load, onus, obligations, encumbrance
- weighingscales, scale, mass, grams, kilograms
- weightpound, pounds, kilogram, kilograms, gram
- unwantedreject, outcast, pariah, uninvited guest, intruder
- freightcargo, cargo ships, air freight, freight rates, bulk freight
deadweightasset
Item of value owned
contributor · producer · workhorse · dynamo · powerhouse