float
noun
- 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."
- A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
- A float board.
- A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
- 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."
- An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
"That float covered in roses is very pretty."
- A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
- Funds 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."
- (and other Commonwealth countries?) An 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.
- The 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."
- Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.
"We make a lot of interest from our nightly float."
- A 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."
- A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.
"It's true - I don't consider anything other than root-beer with vanilla ice-cream to be a "real" float."
- A small sum of money put in a cashier's till at the start of business to enable change to be made.
- A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.
- One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.
- A car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination
- A lowboy trailer
- (tempering) A device sending a copious stream of water to the heated surface of a bulky object, such as an anvil or die.
- The act of flowing; flux; flow.
- A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.
- A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
- A coal cart.
- A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
- A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.
verb
- Of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.
"The boat floated on the water."
- To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density.
"to float a boat"
- To be capable of floating.
"Oil floats on vinegar."
- To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating
"I’d love to just float downstream."
- To drift or wander aimlessly.
"Images from my childhood floated through my mind."
- To drift gently through the air.
"The balloon floated off into the distance."
- To move in a fluid manner.
"The dancer floated gracefully around the stage."
- To circulate.
"There's a rumour floating around the office that Jan is pregnant."
- (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.
"That’s a daft idea... it’ll never float."
- To propose (an idea) for consideration.
"I floated the idea of free ice-cream on Fridays, but no one was interested."
- To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
- (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets as opposed to by rule.
"The yen floats against the dollar."
- To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.
"Increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency."
- To extend a short-term loan to.
"Could you float me $50 until payday?"
- To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
"2007, Jonathan Reuvid, Floating Your Company: The Essential Guide to Going Public."
- To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.
- To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.
"It is time to float this horse's teeth."
- To transport by float (vehicular trailer).
- To perform a float.
- To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.
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