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Entry 18 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Float

/(flōt)/ · IPA /floʊt/
01 n. Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the liquid surface, or mark th…
  1. 1.
    Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the liquid surface, or mark the place of, something.
    “This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry.” — J. P. Peters.
  2. 2.
    A float board. See Float board (below).
  3. 3.
    A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die.(Tempering)
  4. 4.
    The act of flowing; flux; flow.[Obs.]
  5. 5.
    A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.[Obs.]
  6. 6.
    The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.(Plastering)
  7. 7.
    A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
  8. 8.
    A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
  9. 9.
    A coal cart.[Eng.]
  10. 10.
    The sea; a wave. See Flote, n. See: Flote
  11. 11.
    The free use of money for a time between occurrence of a transaction (such as depositing a check or a purchase made using a credit card), and the time when funds are withdrawn to cover the transaction; also, the money made available between transactions in that manner.(Banking)
  12. 12.
    a vehicle on which an exhibit or display is mounted, driven or pulled as part of a parade. The float often is based on a large flat platform, and may contain a very elaborate structure with a tableau or people.
Phrases & compounds
Float board — one of the boards fixed radially to the rim of an undershot water wheel or of a steamer's paddle wheel; -- a vane.
Float case — a caisson used for lifting a ship.
Float copper — fine particles of metallic copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to be lost.
Float ore — water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop.
Float stone — a siliceous stone used to rub stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface.
Float valve — a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See Float, 1 (b).
02 v. i. To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up.
imp. & p. p. Floated; p. pr. & vb. n. Floating
  1. 1.
    To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up.
    “The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground.” — Milton.
    “Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast, I floated.” — Dryden.
  2. 2.
    To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a fluid, or through the air.
    “They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind.” — Pope.
    “There seems a floating whisper on the hills.” — Byron.
03 v. t. To cause to float; to cause to rest or move on the surface of a fluid; as, the tide floated the ship into the harbor.
  1. 1.
    To cause to float; to cause to rest or move on the surface of a fluid; as, the tide floated the ship into the harbor.
    “Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock.” — Southey.
  2. 2.
    To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
    “Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands.” — Dryden.
  3. 3.
    To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.(Plastering)
  4. 4.
    To support and sustain the credit of, as a commercial scheme or a joint-stock company, so as to enable it to go into, or continue in, operation.