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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.
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The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground.
--Milton.
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Three blustering nights, borne by the southern
blast,
I floated. --Dryden.
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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.
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They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the
wind. --Pope.
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There seems a floating whisper on the hills.
--Byron.
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Floating \Float"ing\, a.
1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a
wreck; floating motes in the air.
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2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating
ribs in man and some other animals.
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3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as,
floating capital; a floating debt.
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Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been
withdrawn in great masses from the island.
--Macaulay.
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{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.
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Floating \Float"ing\, n.
1. (Weaving) Floating threads. See {Floating threads}, above.
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2. The second coat of three-coat plastering. --Knight.
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3. The process of rendering oysters and scallops plump by
placing them in fresh or brackish water; -- called also
{fattening}, {plumping}, and {laying out}.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.] Floating charge