Definition of "fraught"

Well, go,And bid the merchants and my men despatch,And come ashore, and see the fraught discharg'd.

c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, Act I

[…] And now behold after my winters toyle,My paynefull voyage on the boyſtrous ſea,Of warres deuouring gulphes and ſteely rocks,I bring my fraught vnto the wiſhed portMy Summers hope, my trauels ſweet reward […]

1596, William Shakespeare, Thomas Kyd (uncertain), Edward III‎, act III, scene iv

The ships are safe thou say'st, and richly fraught?

c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, Act I

Had I been any god of power, I wouldHave sunk the sea within the earth, or e'erIt should the good ship so have swallow'd andThe fraughting souls within her.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

a vessel of our country richly fraught

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene viii]

a discourse fraught with all the commending excellences of speech

1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727

enterprises fraught with world-wide benefits

a. 1865, Isaac Taylor, Epidemic Whims

The simplest action was fraught with danger, and could only be accomplished with the aid of talismans and counter-spells[.]

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 22

[…] all these matters are fraught with paradox, just as they always have been

2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 236d

But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low. With [Oscar] Pistorius, that task is fraught.

2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport)‎

Installing lift shafts in station buildings which were not originally designed to accommodate them can be a fraught exercise, but a necessary one if the legitimate aspiration of the travelling public for step-free access is to be achieved. At Sudbury Hill, on London Underground's Piccadilly Line extension out to the north-western suburbs, Transport for London has achieved this with aplomb.

2022 December 14, Robin Leleux, “A royal occasion as heritage projects honoured: Sudbury Hill”, in RAIL, number 972, page 57