the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. as much as will fill or load a cart; the quantity that a cart holds. In excavating and carting sand, gravel, earth, etc., one third of a cubic yard of the material before it is loosened is estimated to be a cart load.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A load borne on a cart; as much as is usually carried at once on a cart, or as is sufficient to load it. It is an indefinite unit of weight.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. the quantity that a cart holds
Word Usage
"Last week I had to start processing a cartload of art books at work and one was about Tamara de Lempicke, whose artwork I was familiar with but not her life."