float

present singular third person floats · participle present floating · participle past floated · past floated

1. intransitiveTo be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).

   Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't.

   Synonyms: ride

   1. intransitiveTo 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.

      1 more example

      The oil floated on the vinegar.

      Synonyms: ride, swim

2. transitiveTo cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density.

   to float a boat

3. intransitiveTo be capable of floating.

   Oil floats on vinegar.

   1 more example

   That boat doesn't float.

4. intransitiveTo move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating.

   I’d love to just float downstream.

5. intransitiveTo drift or wander aimlessly.

   Images from my childhood floated through my mind.

   1 more example

   I’m not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere.

6. intransitiveTo drift gently through the air.

   The balloon floated off into the distance.

   Synonyms: stream

7. transitiveTo cause to drift gently through the air, to waft.

   Over the tree-tops I float thee a song, / Over the rising and sinking waves, over the myriad fields and the prairies wide, / Over the dense-pack’d cities all and the teeming wharves and ways, / I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee O death.

   1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems

   Synonyms: stream

8. intransitiveTo move in a fluid manner.

   The dancer floated gracefully around the stage.

9. figurativelyintransitiveTo circulate.

   There's a rumour floating around the office that Jan is pregnant.

10. intransitiveaeronauticsTo remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare.
11. colloquialintransitiveOf an idea or scheme, to be viable.

    That's a daft idea... it'll never float.

12. transitiveTo propose (an idea) for consideration.

    I floated the idea of free ice cream on Fridays, but no one was interested.

    1 more example

    Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into a U.S. state, said he would demand far higher defense spending from NATO allies and promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

    2025 January 8, Steve Holland, Joseph Ax, “Trump won't rule out force to take Panama Canal, Greenland”, in USA Today, sourced from Reuters, →ISSN, →OCLC, Nation & World, page 1NN, columns 3–4

13. intransitiveTo automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
14. To not be tied to a reference.
    1. intransitivebusiness(of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets, as opposed to by central fiat.

       The yen floats against the dollar.

    2. transitivebusinessTo allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.

       The government floated the pound in January.

       1 more example

       Increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency.

    3. intransitivebusinessTo be not connected or referenced to a known reference voltage.
15. colloquialtransitiveTo extend a short-term loan to.

    Could you float me $50 until payday?

16. transitivebusinessTo issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.

    2011, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, footnote i, page 269, As a result of this reverse acquisition, Hurlingham changed its name to Manroy plc and floated shares on the Alternative Investment Market in London.

    2 more examples

    "Peg out a claim wherever you like and we will float it," was the substance of many a code of instructions sent by unprincipled men in the mining world of the colonies to the gold prospectors in Port Darwin.

    1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 210

    He [Mario Moretti Polegato] floated the company on the Milan Stock Exchange last December and sold 29 per cent of its shares, mostly to American investors.

    2005 June 21, Dewi Cooke, The Age

17. transitiveTo spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.

    This wire, nailed over the face of the old plaster will also reinforce any loose lath or plaster after the walls have set. Float the wall to the face of the lath first.

    1932, The Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer, volumes 35-37, page 35

18. transitiveTo use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.

    It is time to float this horse's teeth.

19. transitiveTo transport by float (vehicular trailer).
20. card gamesTo perform a float.
21. transitivecomputingTo cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.

    To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins.

    2010, Andy Harris, HTML, XHTML and CSS All-In-One For Dummies, page 290

22. transitivebusinessTo 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

    1 more example

    You can't just close the drawer, log in to the till and start serving customers, telling them you're only taking card payments and that they should gonto another till if they're paying in cash. The till needs to be floated first, so ask the manager on the headset if you can use it and she'll float it and let you know when you can start serving.

plural floats

1. 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.

   1 more example

   'What you need are frogs,' said the veteran. 'Fish them at night. There's nothing like them on big cork floats.'

   1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 40

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.

   When pouring a new driveway, you can use a two-by-four as a float.

6. An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.

   That float covered in roses is very pretty.

7. A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
8. UKA small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.

   As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm.

   1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 7, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC

9. businessFunds committed to be paid but not yet paid.

   Our bank does a nightly sweep of accounts, to adjust the float so we stay within our reserves limit.

10. Australiaand other Commonwealth countries?businessAn 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.

    You don't actually need a broker to buy shares in a float when a company is about to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

    2006, “Buying shares in a float”, in Australian Securities and Investments Commission financial tips article, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2005

    Synonyms: initial public offering

11. bankingThe total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.

    No sir, your current float is not taken into account, when assets are legally garnished.

12. businessPremiums taken in but not yet paid out.

    We make a lot of interest from our nightly float.

13. computingA floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.

    That routine should not have used an int; it should be a float.

    1 more example

    If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.

    2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing, page 214

14. A soft beverage with a scoop of ice cream floating in it.

    I don't consider anything other than root-beer with vanilla ice cream to be a "real" float.

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. card gamesA 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. businessA weft thread that passes over two or more warp threads (or less commonly, warp over weft).

    I knew that a simple float on the surface of the Merino might catch if I made it big enough to show very much.

    1990, Sharon Alderman, A Handweaver's Notebook, →ISBN, page 82

    1 more example

    The appearance of a waffle fabric changes drastically with washing. Yarns differ, but most relax and twist and curl in the long floats when washed; the severe rectilinear design of the waffle cells in unwashed waffle weave fabric will soften dramatically.

    1991, Carol Strickler, editor, A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, Interweave Press, →ISBN, pages 140-141

18. businessA 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.

    Rod Basket with Serpentine Floats

    1991, Rachel Nash Law, Cynthia Wieboldt Taylor, Appalachian White Oak Basketmaking: Handing Down the Basket, page xii

20. automotiveA car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination.
21. transportA lowboy trailer.
22. obsoleteThe act of flowing; flux; flow.

    Hee being now in Float for Treasure.

    1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC

23. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

    Floated: Obtained by successive passages with a wooden float on the coat's surface until it is flat and uniform

    2015, M. Clara Gonçalves, Fernanda Margarido, Materials for Construction and Civil Engineering, page 102

    3 more examples

    The machinery consists of two saws, a polishing table, a float for grinding marble, and a ripping saw for cutting slabs.

    1863 April 24, “Trade News”, in The Building News and Engineering Journal, volume 10, page 324

    Float Machinist— One who squares up, faces, noses or chamfers on a float all marble, slate, or similar stones, and including terrazzo or similar compositions.

    1925, Australia. Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, Commonwealth Arbitration Reports, page 557

    Next , finishers rub a float — a small and smooth, rectangular piece of wood — over the entire surface, carefully avoiding edges and joints.

    1980, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, page 215

24. UKdatedA coal cart.
25. A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
26. computingA visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.

    Because margin floats don't collapse together, the actual spacing between two floats sitting next to each other will be 6 pixels […]

    2004, Eric A. Meyer, More Eric Meyer on CSS, page 36

    1 more example

    When a float cannot fit next to another float, it moves down below it. A float's position, size, padding, borders, and margins affect the position of adjacent floats and adjacent inline content.

    2007, Michael Bowers, Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns, page 93

27. biologyThe gas-filled sac, bag, or body of a siphonophore; a pneumatophore.
28. digital typesettingmediaAny 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.