floater

[ floh-ter ]

/ ˈfloʊ tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR floater ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that floats.

Informal. a person who is continually changing his or her place of abode, employment, etc.

an employee without a fixed job assignment: One of our officers works as a floater, filling in when someone is out.

U.S. Politics. a voter not attached to any party, especially a person whose vote may be purchased.

a person who fraudulently votes, usually for pay, in different places in the same election.

a speck or string that appears to be drifting across the eye just outside the line of vision, caused by cells or cell fragments in the vitreous humor registering on the retina; musca volitans.

Also called floating policy. Insurance. a policy that insures movable personal property, covering a loss in any location.

Finance. any security or note that has a floating rate.

Medicine/Medical Slang. a corpse found floating in a body of water.

Animal Behavior. a territorial animal that has been unable to claim a territory and is forced into undefended, marginal areas with limited resources.

Australian. a meat pie served in a plate of gravy or pea soup.

Nearby words

Origin of floater

First recorded in 1710–20; float + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for floater

His Floater had burnt out while still sufficiently distant from surface to have the fall stun him.
Youth|Isaac Asimov
This Harriet made by a puzzling “floater,” a slow ball that fell in the opposite court far out of reach.
The Meadow-Brook Girls on the Tennis Courts|Janet Aldridge
They named him Plavacek (the floater), because he had come to them floating on the water.
Fairy Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen|Alexander Chodsko
When the floater goes under, you will know that a fish is biting at the worm on the hook.
Seven O'Clock Stories|Robert Gordon Anderson

The floater under him churned a little, but there was no noise.
Unwise Child|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for floater

floater

/ (ˈfləʊtə) /

noun

a person or thing that floats

any of a number of dark spots that appear in one's vision as a result of dead cells or fragments in the lens or vitreous humour of the eye

US and Canadian

a person of no fixed political opinion
a person who votes illegally in more than one district at one election
a voter who can be bribed

Also called: floating policy US and Canadian insurance a policy covering loss or theft of or damage to movable property, such as jewels or furs, regardless of its location

US informal a person who often changes employment, residence, etc; drifter

Australian a loose gold- or opal-bearing rock

Australian (esp in Adelaide) a meat pie in a plate of pea soup

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

Word Origin and History for floater