refloat

R1E1F4L1O1A1T1

verb

To cause to float again.

“Removing fuel from the sunken ship will make it easier to refloat it.”

OriginEnglish float ← Middle English re- ← Old French re- →
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Meanings

verbrefloat (third-person singular simple present refloats, present participle refloating, simple past and past participle refloated)

present singular third person refloats · participle present refloating · participle past refloated · past refloated

  1. transitiveTo cause to float again.

    Removing fuel from the sunken ship will make it easier to refloat it.

    1 more example

    The Canadian Coast Guard says a stranded container barge has been refloated, after running aground off Quadra Island over the weekend. […] Divers have been working since the weekend to assess the damage and determine the best way to refloat the vessel.

    2019 November 15, Simon Little, “Stranded container barge refloated, moved after running aground on Quadra Island”, in Global News
  2. intransitiveTo float again.
    1 more example

    2025, Chloe Hughes, Boat stranded on canal hole edge pulled to safety (BBC News) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c79x0vqvnq4o Overnight, water was pumped into dammed sections created by the Canal and River Trust on Tuesday, and as of 06:00 on Wednesday, water levels were recovering. "This means that one of the boats near to the breach site, plus six further up the canal, are now beginning to refloat," it [the council] said.

nounrefloat (plural refloats)

plural refloats

  1. The process of getting something to float again.

    A small crowd on the docks watched the attempted refloat of the ship.

Origin

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Old Frenchre-
  4. Middle Englishre-
  5. Englishre-
  6. Englishfloat
  7. Englishrefloat

From re- + float.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with refloat

notequotevoteremoteboatpromotethroatcoatfloatgoatcotetotedenotedevotemothoatcapoteafloatsproutmoatrotemotephotlote
All rhymes →

Anagrams

floaterLaforteflorate
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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