What does "float" mean?
A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
Float
/fləʊt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
- Grammar: float is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aeroplane, air bladder, airplane, arrange.
- Useful contrasts: shipwrecked, more electrical grounding, bobs.
- Usage evidence: The substance is light enough to float on the water.
How to use "float"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "float" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "float" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "float" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "float" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "float" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aeroplane" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "float", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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."
- 2 an air-filled sac near the spinal column in many fishes that helps maintain buoyancy wordnet
- 3 A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
- 4 something that floats on the surface of water wordnet
- 5 A float board.
Show 30 more definitions
- 6 a hand tool with a flat face used for smoothing and finishing the surface of plaster or cement or stucco wordnet
- 7 A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
- 8 an elaborate display mounted on a platform carried by a truck (or pulled by a truck) in a procession or parade wordnet
- 9 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."
- 10 a drink with ice cream floating in it wordnet
- 11 An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
"That float covered in roses is very pretty."
- 12 the number of shares outstanding and available for trading by the public wordnet
- 13 A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
- 14 the time interval between the deposit of a check in a bank and its payment wordnet
- 15 A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float. British
"As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm."
- 16 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."
- 17 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. Australia
"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."
- 18 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."
- 19 Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.
"We make a lot of interest from our nightly float."
- 20 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."
- 21 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."
- 22 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.
- 23 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.
- 24 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."
- 25 A loose strand of yarn that passes behind one or more stitches when knitting with multiple yarns.
- 26 A decorative rod that extends over the body of a basket without being attached for part of its length.
"Rod Basket with Serpentine Floats"
- 27 A car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination.
- 28 A lowboy trailer.
- 29 The act of flowing; flux; flow. obsolete
"Hee being now in Float for Treasure."
- 30 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."
- 31 A coal cart. UK, dated
- 32 A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
- 33 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 […]"
- 34 The gas-filled sac, bag, or body of a siphonophore; a pneumatophore.
- 35 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.
Verb
- 1 To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). intransitive
"Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't."
- 2 convert from a fixed point notation to a floating point notation wordnet
- 3 To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).; To be supported by a liquid of greater density, such that part (of the object or substance) remains above the surface. intransitive
"The boat floated on the water."
- 4 allow (currencies) to fluctuate wordnet
- 5 To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density. transitive
"to float a boat"
Show 29 more definitions
- 6 make the surface of level or smooth wordnet
- 7 To be capable of floating. intransitive
"That boat doesn't float."
- 8 put into the water wordnet
- 9 To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating. intransitive
"I’d love to just float downstream."
- 10 move lightly, as if suspended wordnet
- 11 To drift or wander aimlessly. intransitive
"I’m not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere."
- 12 set afloat wordnet
- 13 To drift gently through the air. intransitive
"The balloon floated off into the distance."
- 14 be in motion due to some air or water current wordnet
- 15 To cause to drift gently through the air, to waft. transitive
"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."
- 16 be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom wordnet
- 17 To move in a fluid manner. intransitive
"The dancer floated gracefully around the stage."
- 18 circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with wordnet
- 19 To circulate. figuratively, intransitive
"There's a rumour floating around the office that Jan is pregnant."
- 20 To remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare. intransitive
- 21 Of an idea or scheme, to be viable. colloquial, intransitive
"That's a daft idea... it'll never float."
- 22 To propose (an idea) for consideration. transitive
"I floated the idea of free ice cream on Fridays, but no one was interested."
- 23 To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change. intransitive
- 24 To not be tied to a reference.; (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets, as opposed to by central fiat. intransitive
"The yen floats against the dollar."
- 25 To not be tied to a reference.; To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets. transitive
"The government floated the pound in January."
- 26 To not be tied to a reference.; To be not connected or referenced to a known reference voltage. intransitive
- 27 To extend a short-term loan to. colloquial, transitive
"Could you float me $50 until payday?"
- 28 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. transitive
""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."
- 29 To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float. transitive
"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."
- 30 To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon. transitive
"It is time to float this horse's teeth."
- 31 To transport by float (vehicular trailer). transitive
- 32 To perform a float.
- 33 To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others. transitive
"To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins."
- 34 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 transitive
"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."
Antonyms
Example
"The substance is light enough to float on the water."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "float"?
Common synonyms include: aeroplane, air bladder, airplane, arrange, ascend, aspire.
How do you use "float" in a sentence?
The substance is light enough to float on the water.
How do you pronounce "float"?
Pronounced /fləʊt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English flote, from Old English flota (“sailor, boat”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotō, from Proto-Germanic *flutô, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-.