raft
UK /ɹɑːft/ · US /ɹæft/ noun, verb
Forms rafts rafting rafted
- noun A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform. “They floated down the river on an inflatable raft”
- noun (by extension) Any flattish thing, usually wooden, used in a similar fashion.
- noun (collective) A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water.
- noun (collective, by extension) A group of aquatic mammals, especially otters and especially when visible on the surface of the water.
- noun (collective) A group of alligators or crocodiles, especially when floating in water with their backs visible above the surface.
- noun (US) A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. which obstructs navigation in a river.
- noun (US, slang, when ordering food) A slice of toast.
- noun A square array of sensors forming part of a large telescope.
- verb (transitive) To convey on a raft.
- verb (transitive) To make into a raft.
- verb (intransitive) To travel by raft.
- verb (graphical user interface) To dock (toolbars, etc.) so that they share horizontal or vertical space.
- noun A large (but unspecified) number, a lot.
Synonyms
congregation batch deal flock good deal great deal hatful heap lot mass mess mickle mint mountain muckle passel peck pile plenty pot quite a little sight slew spate stack tidy sum wad
Etymology
Late Middle English, of North Germanic origin, from West Old Norse raptr, from Proto-Germanic *raf-tra-, from Proto-Indo-European *rap-tro-, from *rep- (“stake, beam”). See also Norwegian raft (“beam, rafter”), Danish raft (“thin pole”). Compare also Albanian trap (“raft, ferry”).
Alteration of raff.
Webster’s 1913
- imp. & p. p. of Reave. Spenser.
- noun A collection of logs, boards, pieces of timber, or the like, fastened, together, either for their own collective conveyance on the water, or to serve as a support in conveying other things; a float.
- noun A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. (such as is formed in some Western rivers of the United States), which obstructs navigation. [U.S.]
- verb To transport on a raft, or in the form of a raft; to make into a raft; as, to raft timber.
Etymology [Originally, a rafter, spar, and fr. Icel. raptr a rafter; akin to Dan. raft, Prov. G. raff a rafter, spar; cf. OHG. rafo, ravo, a beam, rafter, Icel. raf roof. Cf. Rafter, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “raft”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details