flotate

F4L1O1T1A1T1E1

verb

To float.

Scrabble 10
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Meanings

verbflotate (third-person singular simple present flotates, present participle flotating, simple past and past participle flotated)

present singular third person flotates · participle present flotating · participle past flotated · past flotated

  1. nonstandard and non-native speakers' EnglishTo float.

    Clouds do not flotate, they stay.

    1996 December 30, TMolina, “Why do clouds float??”, in sci.geo.meteorology (Usenet), retrieved 05 Jun 2022
    2 more examples

    OK. But I think that dragging noises does not bother so much on motorcycles. It doesn't matter much wich ^([sic]) part flotates - as long as the brake pads doesn't touch the rotor when not braking..

    1998 February 12, Brodkin Panu, “Disk brakes for tandems”, in rec.bicycles.tech (Usenet), retrieved 05 Jun 2022

    Course the funniest one sent to me was by one guy who crashed, and riccocheted all over the start finish secition of Spa, bouncing off the sky and flotating up in the air like he was caught up in some sort of invisible twister, before hitting the ground!

    1998 December 19, Tucson Coyote, “Looking for spectacluar GPL crashes!”, in rec.autos.simulators (Usenet), retrieved 05 Jun 2022

Origin

Back-formation from flotation on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix). Equivalent to float + -ate.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

flotate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flotate

MLA

“flotate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flotate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flotate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flotate.

Source: flotate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.