Word: float Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Compare flow, fleet. Pronunciation: /fləʊt/, /floʊt/, /fləʉt/, /flɐʉt/ 1. To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). Labels: intransitive Example: Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't. 2. To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). Labels: intransitive Example: The boat floated on the water. Example: The oil floated on the vinegar. 3. To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density. Labels: transitive Example: to float a boat 4. To be capable of floating. Labels: intransitive Example: That boat doesn't float. Example: Oil floats on vinegar. 5. To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating. Labels: intransitive Example: I’d love to just float downstream. 6. To drift or wander aimlessly. Labels: intransitive Example: I’m not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere. Example: Images from my childhood floated through my mind. 7. To drift gently through the air. Labels: intransitive Example: The balloon floated off into the distance. 8. To cause to drift gently through the air, to waft. Labels: transitive Example: Over the tree-tops I float thee a song, / Over the rising and sinking waves, over the myriad fields and the prairies wide, / Over the dense-pack’d cities all and the teeming wharves and ways, / I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee O death. 9. To move in a fluid manner. Labels: intransitive Example: The dancer floated gracefully around the stage. 10. To circulate. Labels: figuratively, intransitive Example: There's a rumour floating around the office that Jan is pregnant. 11. To remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare. Labels: intransitive 12. Of an idea or scheme, to be viable. Labels: colloquial, intransitive Example: That's a daft idea... it'll never float. 13. To propose (an idea) for consideration. Labels: transitive Example: I floated the idea of free ice cream on Fridays, but no one was interested. Example: Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into a U.S. state, said he would demand far higher defense spending from NATO allies and promised to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. 14. To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change. Labels: intransitive 15. To not be tied to a reference. Labels: intransitive Example: The yen floats against the dollar. 16. To not be tied to a reference. Labels: transitive Example: The government floated the pound in January. Example: Increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency. 17. To not be tied to a reference. Labels: intransitive 18. To extend a short-term loan to. Labels: colloquial, transitive Example: Could you float me $50 until payday? 19. 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. Labels: transitive Example: "Peg out a claim wherever you like and we will float it," was the substance of many a code of instructions sent by unprincipled men in the mining world of the colonies to the gold prospectors in Port Darwin. Example: 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. 20. To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float. Labels: transitive Example: 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. 21. To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon. Labels: transitive Example: It is time to float this horse's teeth. 22. To transport by float (vehicular trailer). Labels: transitive 23. To perform a float. 24. To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others. Labels: transitive Example: To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins. 25. 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 Labels: transitive Example: 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.