Float /(flōt)/

Float

n.
  1. Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the liquid surface, or mark the place of, something.
    This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry.
    — J. P. Peters.
  2. A float board. See Float board (below).
  3. A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die. (Tempering)
  4. The act of flowing; flux; flow. [Obs.]
  5. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep. [Obs.]
  6. The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed. (Plastering)
  7. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
  8. A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
  9. A coal cart. [Eng.]
  10. The sea; a wave. See Flote, n.
  11. The free use of money for a time between occurrence of a transaction (such as depositing a check or a purchase made using a credit card), and the time when funds are withdrawn to cover the transaction; also, the money made available between transactions in that manner. (Banking)
  12. a vehicle on which an exhibit or display is mounted, driven or pulled as part of a parade. The float often is based on a large flat platform, and may contain a very elaborate structure with a tableau or people.

Phrases & Compounds
Float board
one of the boards fixed radially to the rim of an undershot water wheel or of a steamer's paddle wheel; -- a vane.
Float case
a caisson used for lifting a ship.
Float copper
fine particles of metallic copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to be lost.
Float ore
water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop.
Float stone
a siliceous stone used to rub stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface.
Float valve
a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See Float, 1 (b).

Float

v. i.

imp. & p. p. Floated; p. pr. & vb. n. 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.

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. To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet. (Plastering)
  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.