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Webster 1913 Edition

Floating

Float′ing

,
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capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island.
Macaulay.
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.
Knight.
–
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.

Float′ing

,
Noun.
1.
(Weaving)
Floating threads. See
Floating threads
, above.
2.
The second coat of three-coat plastering.
Knight.

Webster 1828 Edition

Floating

FLO'ATING

,
ppr.
1.
Swimming; conveying on water; overflowing.
2.
Lying flat on the surface of the water; as a floating leaf.

Definition 2024

floating

floating

English

Adjective

floating ‎(not comparable)

  1. That which floats or float.
    floating buoys
  2. Not fixed in position, opinion etc.; free to move or drift.
    The outcome of the forthcoming election is still unclear due to the large number of floating voters.
    In China, the large floating population has tended to gravitate to cities.
    You can drag the floating toolbars to any position on the screen.
  3. (linguistics, of a tone) that is not attached to any consonant or vowel within its morpheme.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

floating

  1. present participle of float

Noun

floating ‎(plural floatings)

  1. (in the plural) Material that floats in a liquid.
    • 1898, Journal of Microscopy (page 256)
      Plastic mud, brownish tinted, rich in floatings.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -əʊtɪŋ

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