Definition of float

• v. i. - Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the surface, or mark the place of, something.
• v. i. - A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
• v. i. - The hollow, metallic ball of a self-acting faucet, which floats upon the water in a cistern or boiler.
• v. i. - The cork or quill used in angling, to support the bait line, and indicate the bite of a fish.
• v. i. - Anything used to buoy up whatever is liable to sink; an inflated bag or pillow used by persons learning to swim; a life preserver.
• v. i. - A float board. See Float board (below).
• v. i. - A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die.
• v. i. - The act of flowing; flux; flow.
• v. i. - A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.
• v. i. - The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.
• v. i. - A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
• v. i. - A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
• v. i. - A coal cart.
• v. i. - The sea; a wave. See Flote, n.
• n. - To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up.
• n. - 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.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
• v. t. - To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.
• v. t. - 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.