raft

1
[ raft, rahft ]
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noun
  1. a more or less rigid floating platform made of buoyant material or materials: an inflatable rubber raft.

  2. a collection of logs, planks, casks, etc., fastened together for floating on water.

  1. Building Trades. a slab of reinforced concrete providing a footing on yielding soil, usually for a whole building, so that the weight of the soil that would be displaced by the settlement of the building exceeds the weight of the building itself; mat.

verb (used with object)
  1. to transport on a raft.

  2. to form (logs or the like) into a raft.

  1. to travel or cross by raft.

  2. (of an ice floe) to transport (embedded organic or rock debris) from the shore out to sea.

verb (used without object)
  1. to use a raft; go or travel on a raft.

  2. (of an ice floe) to overlap another ice floe.

Origin of raft

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English raft(e), “(wooden) beam, spear,” from Old Norse raptr rafter1

Words Nearby raft

Other definitions for raft (2 of 2)

raft2
[ raft, rahft ]

nounInformal.
  1. a great quantity; a lot: a whole raft of trouble.

Origin of raft

2
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; variant of raff

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use raft in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for raft (1 of 2)

raft1

/ (rɑːft) /


noun
  1. a buoyant platform of logs, planks, etc, used as a vessel or moored platform

  2. a thick slab of reinforced concrete laid over soft ground to provide a foundation for a building

verb
  1. to convey on or travel by raft, or make a raft from

Origin of raft

1
C15: from Old Norse raptr rafter

Derived forms of raft

  • rafting, noun

British Dictionary definitions for raft (2 of 2)

raft2

/ (rɑːft) /


noun
  1. informal a large collection or amount: a raft of old notebooks discovered in a cupboard

Origin of raft

2
C19: from raff

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012