Definition of "float"

float

/fləʊt/

verb
third-person singular simple present floats, present participle floating, simple past and past participle floated
1. (intransitive, of an object or substance) To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).
  1. To be supported by a liquid of greater density, such that part (of the object or substance) remains above the surface.
2. (transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density.
3. (intransitive) To be capable of floating.
4. (intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating.
5. (intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly.
6. (intransitive) To drift gently through the air.
7. (intransitive) To move in a fluid manner.
8. (intransitive, figurative) To circulate.
9. (aviation) To remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare.
10. (intransitive, colloquial) (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.
11. (transitive) To propose (an idea) for consideration.
12. (intransitive) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
13. (intransitive, finance) (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets, as opposed to by central fiat.
14. (transitive, finance) To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.
15. (transitive, colloquial) To extend a short-term loan to.
16. (transitive, finance) To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
  Quotations
  "Peg out a claim wherever you like and we will float it," was the substance of many a code of instructions sent by unprincipled men in the mining world of the colonies to the gold prospectors in Port Darwin.
  1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 210
  He [Mario Moretti Polegato] floated the company on the Milan Stock Exchange last December and sold 29 per cent of its shares, mostly to American investors.
  2005 June 21, Dewi Cooke, The Age‎
  2007, Jonathan Reuvid, Floating Your Company: The Essential Guide to Going Public
  As a result of this reverse acquisition, Hurlingham changed its name to Manroy plc and floated shares on the Alternative Investment Market in London.
  2011, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, footnote i, page 269
17. (transitive) To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.
  Quotations
  This wire, nailed over the face of the old plaster will also reinforce any loose lath or plaster after the walls have set. Float the wall to the face of the lath first.
  1932, The Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer, volumes 35-37, page 35
18. (transitive) To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.
19. (transitive) To transport by float (vehicular trailer).
20. (poker) To perform a float.
21. (computing, publishing, transitive) To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.
  Quotations
  To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins.
  2010, Andy Harris, HTML, XHTML and CSS All-In-One For Dummies, page 290
noun
plural floats
1. A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
  Quotations
  'What you need are frogs,' said the veteran. 'Fish them at night. There's nothing like them on big cork floats.'
  1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 40
2. A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
3. A float board.
4. A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
5. A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.
6. An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
7. A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
8. (Britain) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
  Quotations
  As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm.
  1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 7, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […]
9. (finance) Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.
10. (finance, Australia, and other Commonwealth countries?) An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.
  Quotations
  You don't actually need a broker to buy shares in a float when a company is about to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
  2006, “Buying shares in a float”, in Australian Securities and Investments Commission financial tips article‎, archived from the original on 16 July 2005
11. (banking) The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.
12. (insurance) Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.
13. (programming) A floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.
  Quotations
  If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.
  2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing, page 214
14. A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.
15. A small sum of money put in a cashier's till, or otherwise secured, at the start of business, to enable change to be made.
16. (poker) A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.
17. (knitting) One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.
18. (automotive) A car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination.
19. (transport) A lowboy trailer.
20. (obsolete) The act of flowing; flux; flow.
  Quotations
  Hee being now in Float for Treasure.
  1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret
21. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
  Quotations
  The machinery consists of two saws, a polishing table, a float for grinding marble, and a ripping saw for cutting slabs.
  1863 April 24, “Trade News”, in The Building News and Engineering Journal, volume 10, page 324
  Float Machinist— One who squares up, faces, noses or chamfers on a float all marble, slate, or similar stones, and including terrazzo or similar compositions.
  1925, Australia. Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, Commonwealth Arbitration Reports, page 557
  Next , finishers rub a float — a small and smooth, rectangular piece of wood — over the entire surface, carefully avoiding edges and joints.
  1980, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, page 215
  Floated: Obtained by successive passages with a wooden float on the coat's surface until it is flat and uniform
  2015, M. Clara Gonçalves, Fernanda Margarido, Materials for Construction and Civil Engineering, page 102
22. (UK, dated) A coal cart.
23. A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
24. (computing) A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.
  Quotations
  Because margin floats don't collapse together, the actual spacing between two floats sitting next to each other will be 6 pixels […]
  2004, Eric A. Meyer, More Eric Meyer on CSS, page 36
  When a float cannot fit next to another float, it moves down below it. A float's position, size, padding, borders, and margins affect the position of adjacent floats and adjacent inline content.
  2007, Michael Bowers, Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns, page 93
25. (biology) The gas-filled sac, bag, or body of a siphonophore; a pneumatophore.
26. (publishing, digital typesetting) Any object (element) whose location in composition (page makeup, pagination) does not flow within body text but rather floats outside of it, usually anchored loosely (in buoy metaphor) to spots within it (citations, callouts): a figure (image), table, box, pull quote, ornament, or other floated element.