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Floating   /flˈoʊtɪŋ/   Listen
adjective
Floating  adj.  
1.
Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a wreck; floating motes in the air.
2.
Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating ribs in man and some other animals.
3.
Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as, floating capital; a floating debt. "Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island."
Floating anchor (Naut.), a drag or sea anchor; drag sail.
Floating battery (Mil.), a battery erected on rafts or the hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a coast or the bombardment of a place.
Floating bridge.
(a)
A bridge consisting of rafts or timber, with a floor of plank, supported wholly by the water; a bateau bridge. See Bateau.
(b)
(Mil.) A kind of double bridge, the upper one projecting beyond the lower one, and capable of being moved forward by pulleys; used for carrying troops over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort.
(c)
A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by means of chains which are anchored on each side of a stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels being driven by stream power.
(d)
The landing platform of a ferry dock.
Floating cartilage (Med.), a cartilage which moves freely in the cavity of a joint, and often interferes with the functions of the latter.
Floating dam.
(a)
An anchored dam.
(b)
A caisson used as a gate for a dry dock.
Floating derrick, a derrick on a float for river and harbor use, in raising vessels, moving stone for harbor improvements, etc.
Floating dock. (Naut.) See under Dock.
Floating harbor, a breakwater of cages or booms, anchored and fastened together, and used as a protection to ships riding at anchor to leeward.
Floating heart (Bot.), a small aquatic plant (Limnanthemum lacunosum) whose heart-shaped leaves float on the water of American ponds.
Floating island, a dish for dessert, consisting of custard with floating masses of whipped cream or white of eggs.
Floating kidney. (Med.) See Wandering kidney, under Wandering.
Floating light, a light shown at the masthead of a vessel moored over sunken rocks, shoals, etc., to warn mariners of danger; a light-ship; also, a light erected on a buoy or floating stage.
Floating liver. (Med.) See Wandering liver, under Wandering.
Floating pier, a landing stage or pier which rises and falls with the tide.
Floating ribs (Anat.), the lower or posterior ribs which are not connected with the others in front; in man they are the last two pairs.
Floating screed (Plastering), a strip of plastering first laid on, to serve as a guide for the thickness of the coat.
Floating threads (Weaving), threads which span several other threads without being interwoven with them, in a woven fabric.


verb
Float  v. t.  
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."
2.
To flood; to overflow; to cover with water. "Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands."
3.
(Plastering) To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.
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.


Float  v. i.  (past & past part. floated; pres. part. floating)  
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." "Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast, I floated."
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." "There seems a floating whisper on the hills."


noun
Floating  n.  
1.
(Weaving) Floating threads. See Floating threads, above.
2.
The second coat of three-coat plastering.
3.
The process of rendering oysters and scallops plump by placing them in fresh or brackish water; called also fattening, plumping, and laying out.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Floating" Quotes from Famous Books



... best of her kind, the outcome of forty years of experiments and improvements in framework and machinery; and her designers and owners thought just as much of her as though she had been the "Lucania." Any one can make a floating hotel that will pay her expenses, if he only puts enough money into the saloon, and charges for private baths, suites of rooms, and such like; but in these days of competition and low freights every square inch of a cargo boat must be built for cheapness, ...
— McClure's Magazine, March, 1896, Vol. VI., No. 4. • Various
... the sea found that a floating log supported his weight as he rested from his efforts. By the strokes of his arms or of a club in his hand, he could propel this log in a desired direction; thus the dugout canoe arose, to be steadied by the outrigger as the ...
— The Doctrine of Evolution - Its Basis and Its Scope • Henry Edward Crampton
... south part of the island I found a block of scoria measuring three feet by two; which, though not appearing to possess the power of floating, must have been brought by the current from the volcanic island of St. Paul's. We saw a few hair-seals on the beach when we landed, and a rich kind of rock oyster was ...
— Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 • John Lort Stokes
... said, three distinct times the Wolverine had thrilled to an imminent discovery, which, upon nearer investigation, had dwindled to nothing more than a floating fowl. Upon the heels of Carter's complaint ...
— The Mystery • Stewart Edward White and Samuel Hopkins Adams
... so-called from its myriad, heavily wooded islands, that make of its vast expanse a maze of channels, rivers and waterways. Calm, without a ripple, lay the glassy, sunlit surface, each island, rock and tree meeting its reflected image at the water line, the sky above flecked with floating clouds, making with the mirrored sky below one ...
— The Major • Ralph Connor


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