Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. in senses suggesting a lit. or fig. additive.

2. (orig. US, also loaded up) drunk.

1855		Bell’s Life in Sydney 18 Aug. 2/7: The Gunn [i.e. Mr William Gunn], who was evidently loaded to the muzzle, immediately fired a volley of abuse at witness, .
1880		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 31 Jan. 14/3: ‘The guard was more loaded than the gun’.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 30 May 13/3: This sight, as may be expected, drives the sailors and miners (all pretty well ‘loaded up’) to frenzy, and charge after charge is made at the [Salvation] Army as it struggles along.
1886		Lantern (N.O.) 6 Oct. 2: The gang of men [...] should act different when they get loaded.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 14 Dec. 2/1: Donald Gunn was charged [...] with being drank. He said he didn’t know he was loaded.
1893		S. Crane Maggie, a Girl of the Streets (2001) 64: Put yer mon in yer pocket! Yer loaded an’ yehs on’y makes a damn fool of yerself.
1902		P.L. Dunbar Jest Of Fate (1903) 212: Well, you know what I told you the last time you got loaded? I mean it too.
1902		Truth (Brisbane) 19 Oct. 3/3: One of these old pals was loaded up to the tonsils with booze.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 29 Jan. 1/1: A police-trooper is waiting for the loaded-up lotharios and their lydies.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Oct. 16/1: I never seen him loaded up like you or me or Snowy; / But, all the same, old Alfie D., gets rolling tight as Chloe.
1915		G. Bronson-Howard God’s Man 281: Now he tells everybody I got him loaded and lifted his souper.
1918		W.M. Barr diary 19 Oct. 🌐 Drank some star that Tookey went over the top to get. Came back loaded and gave us all a hoot.
1929		Edith Johnson ‘Good Chib Blues’ 🎵 Aah if you get loaded baby, and think you want to go, Remember baby you ain’t no better than the man I had before.
1933		R. Chandler ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot’ in Red Wind (1946) 85: Everything’s oke except Mac’s loaded.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 94: The musicians who were bottle babies, always hitting the jug and then coming up brawling after they got loaded.
1951		M. Spillane One Lonely Night 9: A good drunk and you can forget about it [...] Call me when you’re loaded.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 38: I’ve never discussed second-hand jams with anyone [...] let alone in Winston’s when I’m loaded.
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 118: Pretty well loaded from a night’s steady drinking, she rolled over and went to sleep.
1973		D. Goines Black Girl Lost 9: Many grown women wouldn’t have able to recognize [...] he was loaded.
1989		Pileggi & Scorsese Goodfellas [film script] 3: Tommy gets loaded. He doesn’t mean any disrespect.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 92: Don’t go ge’in loaded.
2000		Indep. Rev. 18 Feb. 11: Two groups of twentysomething friends go to a nightspot, get loaded.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 105: ‘We’ll meet again, sir,’ says Giles, very loaded.
2012		A. Bergen ‘Dread Fellow Churls’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] I got loaded up on a triple_shot and at least half a dozen chasers.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] We sat [...] and got loaded.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 80: Getting loaded on peeve.
2023		A. Nette Orphan Road 87: ‘She sounded a little loaded, to be honest’.

3. (orig. US, also loaded up) intoxicated with a drug.

1896		Ade Artie (1963) 45: You don’t mean to say that you were — loaded?
1918		Journal Amer. Instit. of Criminal Law and Criminology VIII Jan. 749–56: Another ‘hop head,’ loaded with morphine, went into a room, and ‘frisked’ the sleeping occupant’s clothes of six dollars and a half.
1923		J. Fishman Crucibles of Crime 126: These handkerchiefs had been dipped in cocaine and then carefully ironed. The mark on the corner notified the ‘snowbird’ that it was ‘loaded’.
1930		J. Tully Shadows of Men 189: He knew that an addict ‘loaded on C’ was subject to wild and painful imaginings.
1943		W.R. Burnett Nobody Lives for Ever 97: It was obvious that Doc was loaded; with liquor, junk or both.
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 122: To get really loaded, you would need four papers.
1961		‘Lou Rand’ Gay Detective (2003) 96: He beat up a girl [...] one night when he was high. [...] He’s crazy when he’s loaded.
1973		E. Bunker No Beast So Fierce 28: ‘We’ll get loaded.’ ‘Not on junk.’ ‘Some pot or something.’.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 107: They got me loaded up on morphine.
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 24: I’m loaded on Depakene, phenobarbital, Tegretol, Dilantin – the whole shit load.
2000		Observer Mag. 11 June 12: Trying to find a way in which I could continue to get loaded without it being a problem.
2019		A. Parks February’s Son 172: ‘If you ask me the cat was loaded on speed’.
2023		A. Nette Orphan Road 122: Loaded on cheap speed.

4. (orig. US, also loaded down) rich, either in actual cash or simply, esp. in prison use, in possessions such as tobacco; of a place, filled with money or valuables.

1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 107: They made their headquarters at the gambling-rooms [...] and, being generally loaded with money, would play liberally against the faro-bank.
1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 198: They [i.e. sailors] were all loaded for snowbirds.
1933		C. Himes ‘Prison Mass’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 172: He had got a ‘Steer’ that the litle safe [...] would be loaded for a killing around Thanksgiving.
1948		H. McCoy Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in Four Novels (1983) 212: Jesus, I thought, this dame is loaded, she really is.
1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 150: The door checker [...] gave him the high sign that the little Marine was loaded.
1959		F. Norman Fings I i: Don’t worry about the gilt, I’m loaded.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 63: I betcha he’s loaded down though, him and his old lady both.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 66: Jimmy [...] had an almost uncanny knack for spotting a loaded chump.
1976		P. Theroux Family Arsenal 32: You don’t need the money. You’re loaded.
1980		T. Lewis GBH 268: ‘You’re loaded. It’s obvious’.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 226: A million dollars . . . You said he’s loaded.
1996		P. Beatty White Boy Shuffle 37: I’ll miss the weekend speedboat outings with your red-headed ex-Playboy Bunny mom and her loaded boyfriend.
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] I’ll get you something for pain and suffering. This bloke’s loaded.
1998		P. McCabe Breakfast on Pluto 59: She used to bring me food and money. (As if I needed it — I was loaded!).
2002		J. Cameron Hell on Hoe Street 135: They want a packet of dosh for him, heard his family got loaded in England.
2007		L. Redhead Cherry Pie [ebook] ‘Thought I was loaded and he could get some money out of me’.
2012		B. Willoughby ‘Spelled with a K’ in ThugLit Oct. [ebook] ‘[P]aying child support to my loaded ex-wife’.
2018		C. Hammer Scrublands [ebook] ‘Some of the greatest bums I’ve known were loaded. Rich scumbags’.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 321: ‘He’s a doctor. Loaded’.
2022		A. Parks May God Forgive 55: ‘He’s loaded. Malcolm and his brother went to St Aloysius [College]’.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 578: Eye-wateringly loaded. Has never been on public transport in her life.

5. in possession of a large amount of a given commodity, e.g. drugs.

1928		C. McKay Home to Harlem 189: Their mouths are loaded with filth, and that’s what gets me.
1938		D. Runyon ‘All Horse Players Die Broke’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 715: The books are so loaded with wagers on Cara Mia to win.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 230: Milwaukee is loaded with dead-falls, joints, clip-dives and carnival midway attractions, cheap, corny and crummy.
1957		R. Prather Always Leave ’Em Dying 129: The place was loaded with cops.
1962		K. Orvis Damned and Destroyed 36: Loaded. Full of heroin. Carrying a roll, too.
1970		T. Parker Frying-Pan 147: I’m always loaded [...] I’m carrying a lot of stuff.
1977		B. Jackson Killing Time 224: Both of ’em are loaded with time — one’s doing thirty and the other’s doing twenty.
2010		K. Richards Life 7: ‘I’m loaded.’ He’s got bottles fuill of Tuinal.

6. (Aus./US) infected with a venereal disease.

c.1943		US Army Anti-VD Poster Loaded? [of three pictured young wommen] Don’t take chances with pickups!
1972		G. Morley Jockey Rides Honest Race 21: They reckon all the tars come off the boats and lay them. Half of them are probably loaded, but I reckon they would be pretty hot in bed [DAUS].

7. of a female, well-built, big-breasted.

1946		E. Wilson Pikes Peek or Bust 192: ‘You can see,’ she said, ‘that I don’t use anything artificial to give me a figure. I don’t need it, bub. I’m loaded’ I guess even the casual reader will comprehend that by ‘loaded’ Marie meant well-bosomed .
1955		H. Ellson Rock 80: Cora shows on the scene. She’s a real loaded girl, Fat all over.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 loaded adj 1. large breasted. (‘Woah, that girl’s loaded!’).

8. pregnant.

1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 13 Jan 3/5: ‘I wish you joy [...] Youre the dad of a bouncing boy’ / [...] / Who’d a guessed it [i.e. a girl] was loaded,’ he sadly sighed.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 70: You and Alfie Bottesford have been rubbing up together so that he’s got you loaded.

9. of an automobile, customized [i.e. loaded with a variety of accessories].

1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 19: Larry, the sales manager at Casa, fixed me up with an old Cutlass demo, loaded.
1996		T. Wolff ‘The Chain’ in The Night in Question 143: Fully loaded, this model [of BMW] ran in the neighborhood of forty grand’.
2003		A.N. LeBlanc Random Family 65: First prize was a loaded Mitsubishi Galant.

10. (US drugs) a hypodermic syringe holding a prepared injection of a narcotic.

2023

F. Bill Back to the Dirt 42: A loaded shot was in the mug. Wylie [...] grabbed the needle, stabbed it between the toes, unloaded the rig.

11. see loaded for bear