float

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).
2. (intransitive) To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).
3. (transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density.
4. (intransitive) To be capable of floating.
5. (intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating.
6. (intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly.
7. (intransitive) To drift gently through the air.
8. (transitive) To cause to drift gently through the air, to waft.
9. (intransitive) To move in a fluid manner.
10. (figuratively, intransitive) To circulate.
11. (intransitive) To remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare.
12. (colloquial, intransitive) Of an idea or scheme, to be viable.
13. (transitive) To propose (an idea) for consideration.
14. (intransitive) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
15. (intransitive) To not be tied to a reference.
16. (transitive) To not be tied to a reference.
17. (intransitive) To not be tied to a reference.
18. (colloquial, transitive) To extend a short-term loan to.
19. (transitive) To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
20. (transitive) To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.
21. (transitive) To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.
22. (transitive) To transport by float (vehicular trailer).
23. To perform a float.
24. (transitive) To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.
25. (transitive) To prepare a till (cash register) for operation, either by putting a float (cash amount) in the cash drawer to provide change for customers making cash payments or (by extension) by recording the time a till starts being used for card payments if it is card-only

Noun

1. A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
2. A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
3. A float board.
4. A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
5. A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.
6. An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
7. A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
8. (British) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
9. Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.
10. (Australia) An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.
11. The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.
12. Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.
13. A floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.
14. A soft beverage with a scoop of ice cream floating in it.
15. A small sum of money put in a cashier's till, or otherwise secured, at the start of business, to enable change to be made.
16. A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.
17. A weft thread that passes over two or more warp threads (or less commonly, warp over weft).
18. A loose strand of yarn that passes behind one or more stitches when knitting with multiple yarns.
19. A decorative rod that extends over the body of a basket without being attached for part of its length.
20. A car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination.
21. A lowboy trailer.
22. (obsolete) The act of flowing; flux; flow.
23. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
24. (UK, dated) A coal cart.
25. A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
26. A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.
27. The gas-filled sac, bag, or body of a siphonophore; a pneumatophore.
28. Any object (element) whose location in composition (page makeup, pagination) does not flow within body text but rather floats outside of it, usually anchored loosely (in buoy metaphor) to spots within it (citations, callouts): a figure (image), table, box, pull quote, ornament, or other floated element.

Synonyms

drift

swim

🏊

raft

buoy

waft

sail

glide

hover

bob

bobber

soar

fishing float

fly

✈️

wander

floating

pontoon

rise to the surface

vacillate

set afloat

slide

floatation

launch

be adrift

issue

cork

blow

ice-cream soda

flow

air bladder

plasterer’s float

move gently

cause to float

ice-cream float

be buoyant

floater

swim bladder

surface

scud

navigate

levitate

hang

ride

douse

dock

descend

boating

balance

coracle

coil

flutter

Translations

flotter

flotar

drijven

schwimmen

🏊

galleggiare

galleggiante

treiben

Floß

nuotare

🏊

flutuar

flotar

επιπλέω

flotteur

gleiten

boiar

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fləʊt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: floten

Inherited from Old English: flotian

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: flotje

Cognate with Western Frisian: flotsje

Cognate with Dutch: vlotten

Cognate with Middle Low German: vloten

Cognate with German: flötzen

Cognate with Swedish: flotta

Cognate with Icelandic: fljóta

Cognate with Old English: flēotan

Cognate with Ancient Greek: πλέω

Cognate with Lithuanian: plaukti

Cognate with Russian: пла́вать

In summary

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.

Sentences

A falloon, a portmanteau of " float " and " balloon ", is a float-based balloon .