Showing results for "floating"

• present participle of float.

floating

American  

[floh-ting] / ˈfloʊ tɪŋ /

adjective

1. being buoyed up on water or other liquid.

2. having little or no attachment to a particular place; moving from one place to another.

   a floating workforce.

3. Pathology. away from its proper position, especially in a downward direction.

   a floating kidney.

4. not fixed or settled in a definite place or state.

   a floating population.

5. Finance.

   1. in circulation or use, or not permanently invested, as capital.

   2. composed of sums due within a short time.

      a floating debt.

6. Machinery.

   1. having a soft suspension greatly reducing vibrations between the suspended part and its support.

   2. working smoothly.

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floating British  

/ ˈfləʊtɪŋ /

adjective

1. having little or no attachment

2. (of an organ or part) displaced from the normal position or abnormally movable

   a floating kidney

3. not definitely attached to one place or policy; uncommitted or unfixed

   the floating vote

4. finance

   1. (of capital) not allocated or invested; available for current use

   2. (of debt) short-term and unfunded, usually raised by a government or company to meet current expenses

   3. (of a currency) free to fluctuate against other currencies in accordance with market forces

5. machinery operating smoothly through being free from external constraints

6. (of an electronic circuit or device) not connected to a source of voltage

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Other Word Forms

• nonfloating
  adjective
• unfloating
  adjective
• floatingly
  adverb
• nonfloatingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of floating

First recorded in 1555–65; float + -ing ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

floating

Wang and Zahl analysed the problem on the assumption that the pencil was floating in a three-dimensional space, rather than on a flat surface.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

"I was floating like a dead body, and after great difficulty managed to raise my head slightly."

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

It has allowed goods to come in and oil previously stranded onshore or in tankers floating in the Gulf to be moved out into the market or into storage near customers like China.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Medium and high resolution sensors operated by government agencies and commercial satellite companies have tracked these floating pumice fields as they stretch into long bands carried by surface currents.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

Coal glanced at the phone of the person streaming next to him and saw views in the thousands with constant encouraging comments and emojis floating over the video.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Related Words

• soaring