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can buoy

American

noun

a cylindrical, unlighted buoy used as a channel marker.

can buoy British

noun

nautical a buoy with a flat-topped cylindrical shape above water, marking the left side of a channel leading into a harbour: red in British waters but green (occasionally black) in US waters Compare nun buoy

"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

Etymology

Origin of can buoy

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

By buying Exact Sciences and its series of cancer tests that generate about $3 billion in annual revenue, Abbott can buoy its own diagnostics business.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 20, 2025

Physical touch can buoy well-being and lessen pain, depression and anxiety, according to a large new analysis of published research released on Monday in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2024

But how it will play in the real Paris, Texas, and whether or not it can buoy Coach's sagging profits, is another matter.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2014

Fans can buoy you up, but pleasing them can leave you deaf to the wider audience.

From BBC • May 29, 2013

The extreme end of the outfall should be indicated by a can buoy similar to that shown in Fig.

From The Sewerage of Sea Coast Towns by Adams, Henry C.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023