Definition of: float

(flōt) v.i.
1. To rest on the surface of a liquid.
2. To drift on or as on the surface of a liquid; move gently.
3. To move or drift without purpose or destination.
4. To hover; stay vaguely: The image floated in his mind.
—v.t.
5. To cause to rest on the surface of a liquid.
6. To put in circulation; place on sale: to float a loan.
7. To find support for, as a business venture.
8. To irrigate; flood.
9. To smooth the surface of (soft plaster).
—noun
1. An object, as a ball, that floats on a liquid or buoys up something, as a cork on a bait line or a hollow ball in a cistern.
2. One of various devices or appliances, as a plasterer's spreading trowel, a shoemaker's rasp, etc.
3. A truck or wheeled platform, decorated for display in a pageant.
4. Naut. A dock or basin in which a ship is floated. For illustration see DRYDOCK.
5. Geol. Rock or rocky debris detached from the original formation.
6. Aeron. That portion of the landing gear of a seaplane which provides buoyancy when it is resting on the surface of the water.
7. In banking, time drafts and out-of-town checks in transit for collection. See TRANSIT.
8. A mechanical device for elevating performers above the stage in spectacular plays; also, the footlights.
9. The passage of a filling thread under or over several warp threads without engaging them.
10. Electr. A voltage equalizer; storage battery.
11. Biol. A hollow or inflated organ that supports an animal in water.
12. A milk shake with a ball of ice-cream floating in it. [OE flotian float]
—float′a·ble, float′y adjective Synonym (verb): swim. An object floats which is upborne in a fluid without action; a living being swims when borne up, or borne onward, in a liquid by action; one wearied with swimming may rest himself by floating; a cork floats on water; the hawk seems to float in the upper air. Antonyms: drown, sink.

float·age (flō′tij), float·a·tion (flō·tā′shən)
See FLOTAGE, etc.

float·board (flōt′bôrd′, -bōrd′) noun
One of the paddles of a water wheel or of a paddle wheel.

float·er (flō′tər) noun
1. One who or that which floats; a float.
2. U.S. An unattached voter, especially one whose vote may be bought; also, one who votes fraudulently elsewhere than in his own district.

float–feed (flōt′fēd′) adjective Mech.
Furnished with a feed controlled by a float, as the carburetor of an internal-combustion engine.

float·ing (flō′ting) adjective
1. Buoyed up or carried along by a liquid or gas; borne on the surface of a liquid.
2. Unattached to moorings or anchorage; afloat.
3. Moving about; not settled; fluctuating.
4. Not funded; due at various times and in various sums: said of an indebtedness.
5. Not invested permanently; in circulation; available: said of funds or capital.
—noun
1. The act, operation, or process of floating, in any sense of the verb.
2. A second coat of plastering.

floating axle Mech.
In an automobile, a live axle which floats in a housing: it supports none of the weight, its sole function being to transmit propelling power to the wheels.

floating debt
The general unfunded indebtedness of a state or a corporation.

floating dock
A double caisson having a floored open space between air chambers: used for lifting a vessel out of water by pumping the water out of the air chambers. Also floating dry-dock.

float·ing-heart (flō′ting·härt′) noun
An aquatic herb (genus Nymphoides), with floating heart-shaped leaves.