buoy
Nautical. a distinctively shaped and marked float, sometimes carrying a signal or signals, anchored to mark a channel, anchorage, navigational hazard, etc., or to provide a mooring place away from the shore.
a life buoy.
to keep afloat or support by or as if by a life buoy; keep from sinking (often followed by up): The life jacket buoyed her up until help arrived.
Nautical. to mark with a buoy or buoys.
to sustain or encourage (often followed by up): Her courage was buoyed by the doctor's assurances.
to float or rise by reason of lightness.
Origin of buoy
1Other words for buoy
Words that may be confused with buoy
- boy, buoy
Words Nearby buoy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use buoy in a sentence
Pointing their phones at the area around the buoys, they’d see the digital sculptures appear.
Watch London’s Cool, Quirky Augmented Reality Art Exhibit at Home | Vanessa Bates Ramirez | January 22, 2021 | Singularity HubWaterfront landowners often express concerns that oyster farms near the shoreline — and the network of buoys and docks that may come along with them — disrupt their scenic views.
Solar-powered barge could take oyster farming deeper into Chesapeake | Christine Condon | January 11, 2021 | Washington PostNow, satellite-tracked buoys that simulated wayward rafts suggest that there’s little chance that the seafarers reached the isles by accident.
Ancient humans may have deliberately voyaged to Japan’s Ryukyu Islands | Charles Choi | December 3, 2020 | Science NewsOnboard a computer on the buoy out at sea, an automated detection algorithm harnessing the power of artificial intelligence identifies nearby vocalizing blue, humpback, and fin whales in near real-time.
Whale ‘roadkill’ is on the rise off California. A new detection system could help. | Erik Olsen | September 29, 2020 | Popular-ScienceResults are sent from the buoy via satellite to researchers who confirm the sounds, and match them to visual sightings from scientists and whale-watching boats in the area.
Whale ‘roadkill’ is on the rise off California. A new detection system could help. | Erik Olsen | September 29, 2020 | Popular-Science
They also helped buoy Chavez's political fortunes, winning him momentum before a crucial recall vote.
Venezuela Unveils Orwellian Ministry of Supreme Social Happiness | Mac Margolis | October 31, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd he will buoy hopes among Democrats that Virginia is reliably purple, if not blue, in the 2016 presidential election.
How Virginia Democrats Are Winning on Gun Safety | Eleanor Clift | October 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIf you could launch these things from, say, a floating buoy, you could solve a lot of problems at once.
They gave me a jolt of encouragement that is going to buoy me for the rest of my writing life.
Bailouts, government guarantees, and the Fed's easy money policies helped buoy banks.
The Nora lies becalmed not far from the Goodwin buoy, with her sails hanging idly on the yards.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. BallantyneThe buoy having been secured, an iron hook and chain of great strength were then attached to the ring in its head.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. Ballantyne“You see we require stronger tackle,” said the captain to Stanley, while the buoy was being slowly raised.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. BallantyneHe therefore gave the order to have the fresh buoy, with its chain and sinker, ready to let go.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. BallantyneHe had caught the life-buoy, and having managed to get it under his arms had floated about for the greater part of an hour.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. Ballantyne
British Dictionary definitions for buoy
/ (bɔɪ, US ˈbuːɪ) /
a distinctively shaped and coloured float, anchored to the bottom, for designating moorings, navigable channels, or obstructions in a body of water: See also life buoy
(tr usually foll by up) to prevent from sinking: the belt buoyed him up
(tr usually foll by up) to raise the spirits of; hearten
(tr) nautical to mark (a channel or obstruction) with a buoy or buoys
(intr) to rise to the surface
Origin of buoy
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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