Sekirov Dictionary

float

UK /fləʊt/US /floʊt/

verb 26
noun 28
forms 5
phrases 3

verb26

•
to be held up by water and stay on top of it
- Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't.
•
To be supported by a liquid of greater density, such that part (of the object or substance) remains above the surface.
- The boat floated on the water.
- The oil floated on the vinegar.
To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density.
•
To be capable of floating.
- That boat doesn't float.
- 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.
- I’m not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere.
- Images from my childhood floated through my mind.
•
To drift gently through the air.
- The balloon floated off into the distance.
To cause to drift gently through the air, to waft.
•
(figurative) To circulate.
- There's a rumour floating around the office that Jan is pregnant.
•
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.
To not be tied to a reference.
•
(of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets, as opposed to by central fiat.
- The yen floats against the dollar.
•
To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.
- The government floated the pound in January.
- Increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency.
To be not connected or referenced to a known reference voltage.
•
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.
- He [Mario Moretti Polegato] floated the company on the Milan Stock Exchange last December and sold 29 per cent of its shares, mostly to American investors. — 2005
•
To move in a fluid manner.
- The dancer floated gracefully around the stage.
•
(informal) Of an idea or scheme, to be viable.
- That's a daft idea... it'll never float.
•
(informal) To extend a short-term loan to.
- Could you float me $50 until payday?
•
To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.
- To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins. — 2010
To perform a float.
•
To prepare a till (cash register) for operation, either by putting a float (cash amount) in the cash drawer to provide change for customers making cash payments or (by extension) by recording the time a till starts being used for card payments if it is card-only
- You can't just close the drawer, log in to the till and start serving customers, telling them you're only taking card payments and that they should gonto another till if they're paying in cash. The till needs to be floated first, so ask the manager on the headset if you can use it and she'll float it and let you know when you can start serving.
To remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare.
•
To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.
- This wire, nailed over the face of the old plaster will also reinforce any loose lath or plaster after the walls have set. Float the wall to the face of the lath first. — 1932
To transport by float (vehicular trailer).
•
To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.
- It is time to float this horse's teeth.

noun28

•
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.
•
An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
- That float covered in roses is very pretty.
A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
The gas-filled sac, bag, or body of a siphonophore; a pneumatophore.
•
(Australia) 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.
- You don't actually need a broker to buy shares in a float when a company is about to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. — 2006
A small sum of money put in a cashier's till, or otherwise secured, at the start of business, to enable change to be made.
•
A soft beverage with a scoop of ice cream floating in it.
- I don't consider anything other than root-beer with vanilla ice cream to be a "real" 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.
•
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.
•
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.
•
(UK) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
- As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm. — 1913
A car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination.
A lowboy trailer.
(UK, old-fashioned) A coal cart.
•
A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.
- Because margin floats don't collapse together, the actual spacing between two floats sitting next to each other will be 6 pixels […] — 2004
Any object (element) whose location in composition (page makeup, pagination) does not flow within body text but rather floats outside of it, usually anchored loosely (in buoy metaphor) to spots within it (citations, callouts): a figure (image), table, box, pull quote, ornament, or other floated element.
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.
•
A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
- The machinery consists of two saws, a polishing table, a float for grinding marble, and a ripping saw for cutting slabs. — 1863
A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
A float board.
•
A weft thread that passes over two or more warp threads (or less commonly, warp over weft).
- I knew that a simple float on the surface of the Merino might catch if I made it big enough to show very much. — 1990
A loose strand of yarn that passes behind one or more stitches when knitting with multiple yarns.
•
A decorative rod that extends over the body of a basket without being attached for part of its length.
- Rod Basket with Serpentine Floats — 1991
A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
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.
•
(no longer used) The act of flowing; flux; flow.
- Hee being now in Float for Treasure. — 1622

forms

floated · floating · floateth · floats · floatest

Phrases with float

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