From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
float
n 1: the time interval between the deposit of a check in a bank
and its payment
2: the number of shares outstanding and available for trading by
the public
3: a drink with ice cream floating in it [syn: ice-cream soda,
ice-cream float, float]
4: an elaborate display mounted on a platform carried by a truck
(or pulled by a truck) in a procession or parade
5: a hand tool with a flat face used for smoothing and finishing
the surface of plaster or cement or stucco [syn: float,
plasterer's float]
6: something that floats on the surface of water
7: an air-filled sac near the spinal column in many fishes that
helps maintain buoyancy [syn: air bladder, swim bladder,
float]
v 1: be in motion due to some air or water current; "The leaves
were blowing in the wind"; "the boat drifted on the lake";
"The sailboat was adrift on the open sea"; "the shipwrecked
boat drifted away from the shore" [syn: float, drift,
be adrift, blow]
2: be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to
the bottom [syn: float, swim] [ant: go down, {go
under}, settle, sink]
3: set afloat; "He floated the logs down the river"; "The boy
floated his toy boat on the pond"
4: circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with; "The
Republicans are floating the idea of a tax reform"
5: move lightly, as if suspended; "The dancer floated across the
stage"
6: put into the water; "float a ship"
7: make the surface of level or smooth; "float the plaster"
8: allow (currencies) to fluctuate; "The government floated the
ruble for a few months"
9: convert from a fixed point notation to a floating point
notation; "float data"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Float \Float\ (fl[=o]t), n.[OE. flote ship, boat, fleet, AS.
flota ship, fr. fle['o]tan to float; akin to D. vloot fleet,
G. floss raft, Icel. floti float, raft, fleet, Sw. flotta.
[root] 84. See Fleet, v. i., and cf. Flotilla, Flotsam,
Plover.]
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.
Specifically:
(a) A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and
conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
(b) The hollow, metallic ball of a self-acting faucet,
which floats upon the water in a cistern or boiler.
(c) The cork or quill used in angling, to support the bait
line, and indicate the bite of a fish.
(d) Anything used to buoy up whatever is liable to sink;
an inflated bag or pillow used by persons learning to
swim; a life preserver.
(e) The hollow, metallic ball which floats on the fuel in
the fuel tank of a vehicle to indicate the level of
the fuel surface, and thus the amount of fuel
remaining.
(f) A hollow elongated tank mounted under the wing of a
seaplane which causes the plane to float when resting
on the surface of the water.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
This reform bill . . . had been used as a float
by the conservative ministry. --J. P.
Peters.
[1913 Webster]
2. A float board. See Float board (below).
[1913 Webster]
3. (Tempering) A contrivance for affording a copious stream
of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk,
as an anvil or die. --Knight.
[1913 Webster]
4. The act of flowing; flux; flow. [Obs.] --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
5. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot
deep. [Obs.] --Mortimer.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Plastering) The trowel or tool with which the floated
coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.
[1913 Webster]
7. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
--Knight.
[1913 Webster]
8. A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers
for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
[1913 Webster]
9. A coal cart. [Eng.] --Simmonds.
[1913 Webster]
10. The sea; a wave. See Flote, n.
[1913 Webster]
11. (Banking) 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.
[PJC]
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.
[PJC]
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 (Naut.), a caisson used for lifting a ship.
Float copper or Float gold (Mining), 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.
--Raymond.
Float stone (Arch.), 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) .
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Float \Float\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Floated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Floating.] [OE. flotien, flotten, AS. flotian to float,
swim, fr. fle['o]tan. See Float, n.]
1. To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed
up.
[1913 Webster]
The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Three blustering nights, borne by the southern
blast,
I floated. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the
wind. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
There seems a floating whisper on the hills.
--Byron.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Float \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.
[1913 Webster]
Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock.
--Southey.
[1913 Webster]
2. To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
[1913 Webster]
Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Plastering) To pass over and level the surface of with a
float while the plastering is kept wet.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
float
<programming> The usual keyword for the floating-point
data type, e.g. in the C programming language. The
keyword "double" usually also introduces a floating-point
type, but with twice the precession of a float.
(2008-06-13)