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1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)
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"

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]

4. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]

5. The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018)
float

    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)


Thesaurus Results for float:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
Carling float, arrange, ascend, aspire, balsa, balsa raft, barge, bathe, bear up, become airborne, boat, bob, boom, brandish, bring off, bring up, broach, bundle, bundle off, buoy, buoy up, bus, carry off, cart, christen, claw skyward, coach, consummate, cork, dart, deluge, dip, dive, dray, drift, drown, duck, dunk, effect, establish, ferry, flap, flaunt, float high, flood, flourish, flow on, flutter, fly, fly aloft, foot, found, gain altitude, get, get going, get moving, ghost, give a start, glide, go in swimming, go in wading, go public, hang, haul, hold up, hover, inaugurate, induct, initiate, install, institute, introduce, inundate, issue, issue stock, kick off, kite, launch, leave the ground, levitate, life buoy, life preserver, life raft, lift up, lighter, negotiate, organize, plane, platform, plow the deep, poise, pontoon, pour on, pull off, put in motion, raft, rain, raise, ride, ride high, ride the sea, ring in, rise, run, sail, scud, send, send forth, send off, set afloat, set agoing, set going, set in motion, set on foot, set up, shake, ship, shoot, skim, skinny-dip, sled, sledge, slip, sluice, soar, spire, start, start going, start off, start up, submerge, surfboard, sustain, swamp, swim, swing, take off, transact, tread water, truck, turn on, undulate, upbear, uphold, uplift, upraise, usher in, van, wade, waft, wag, wagon, walk the waters, wash, wave, wheelbarrow, whelm, wield, wigwag, zoom
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