raft

¹

[raft, rahft]

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.

3. life raft.

4. 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.

3. to travel or cross by raft.

4. (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.

raft

²

[raft, rahft]

noun

Informal.

1. a great quantity; a lot.

   a whole raft of trouble.

raft

¹

/ 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

raft

²

/ rɑːft /

noun

1. informal,  a large collection or amount

   a raft of old notebooks discovered in a cupboard

Other Word Forms

• rafting noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of raft¹

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

Origin of raft²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of raft¹

C15: from Old Norse raptr _rafter

Origin of raft²

C19: from _raff

Example Sentences

Since then, travel agencies and brokers have drawn people from all over the world to join what they call Russia’s “elite international battalion,” dangling a raft of benefits to attract would-be recruits.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A whole raft of players have arrived in a short space of time, but this is by far the most significant decision taken by the new owners.

Read more on BBC

Three years later, Middleton gave a raft of youngsters their England debuts in a match against Canada in Barnet.

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But by then his words had already spooked markets, spurring a sharp fall in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and a raft of enraged statements from his political enemies.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yvette Cooper has announced a funding boost for Ukraine alongside a raft of new sanctions on Russia, as she visits Kyiv in her first overseas trip as foreign secretary.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• barge 
• boat 
• life raft 
• lifeboat