Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Float
Float
,Verb.
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. Milton.
Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast,
I
I
floated
. Dryden.
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. Pope.
There seems a
floating
whisper on the hills. Byron.
Float
,Verb.
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 harborHad
floated
that bell on the Inchcape rock. Southey.
2.
To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
Proud Pactolus
floats
the fruitful lands. Dryden.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Float
FLOAT
, n.1.
That which swims or is borne on water; as a float of weeds and rushes. But particularly, a body or collection of timber, boards or planks fastened together and conveyed down a stream; a raft. [The latter word is more generally used in the United States.]2.
The cork or quill used on an angling line, to support it and discover the bite of a fish.3.
The act of flowing; flux; flood; the primary sense, but obsolete.4.
A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one deep.5.
A wave. [L. fuctus.]FLOAT
,Verb.
I.
1.
To be borne or sustained on the surface of a fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up; not to sink; not to be aground. We say, the water is so shallow, the ship will not float.