float
UK /fləʊt/ · US /floʊt/ verb, noun
Forms floats floating floated
- verb (intransitive, of an object or substance) To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). “Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't.”
- verb To be supported by a liquid of greater density, such that part (of the object or substance) remains above the surface. “The boat floated on the water.”
- verb (transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density. “to float a boat”
- verb (intransitive) To be capable of floating. “That boat doesn't float.”
- verb (intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating. “I’d love to just float downstream.”
- verb (intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly. “I’m not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere.”
- verb (intransitive) To drift gently through the air. “The balloon floated off into the distance.”
- verb (transitive) To cause to drift gently through the air, to waft.
- noun A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid. “Attach the float and the weight to the fishing line, above the hook.”
- noun A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
- noun A float board.
- noun A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
- noun A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster. “When pouring a new driveway, you can use a two-by-four as a float.”
- noun An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant. “That float covered in roses is very pretty.”
- noun A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
- noun (UK) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
Synonyms
ride swim stream initial public offering ice-cream soda ice-cream float plasterer's float air bladder swim bladder drift be adrift blow
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Compare flow, fleet.
From Middle English flote, from Old English flota (“sailor, boat”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotō, from Proto-Germanic *flutô, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the surface, or mark the place of, something. Specifically: (a) A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
- noun A float board. See Float board (below).
- verb To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up. The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. Milton.
- verb To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a fluid, or through the air. They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. Pope.
Etymology [OE. flote ship, boat, fleet, AS. flota ship, fr. fleótan to float; akin to D. vloot fleet, G. floss raft, Icel. floti float, raft, fleet, Sw. flotta. sq. root 84. See Fleet, v. i., and cf. Flotilla, Flotsam, Plover.]
Etymology [OE. flotien, flotten, AS. flotian to float, swim, fr. fleótan. See Float, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “float”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details