floater

[ floh-ter ]

/ ˈfloʊ tər /

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See synonyms for: floater / floaters 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.

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Origin of floater

First recorded in 1710–20; float + -er¹

Words nearby floater

float bowl, float bridge, float chamber, floatcut file, floatel, floater, float-feed, float glass, floatie, floating, floating assets

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use floater in a sentence

He thrives in the pick and roll and in isolation, and he’s more than comfortable creating for himself with pull-ups behind the arc or floaters inside of it.
Cam Payne Was Out Of The League. Now He’s Out Of This World.|Louis Zatzman|June 30, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
It didn’t work, and neither did the Knicks’ efforts to send help in his direction after he tore them up with floaters and pull-ups in Game 1.
The Bucks-Hawks Series Could Come Down To One Area Of The Court|Jared Dubin|June 23, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Durant drives hard at Paul George’s shoulder, skids to a stop and tosses in a floater — letting go at about the height of the rim — that the four-time All-NBA defender can hardly contest.
Achilles Tears Often Spell Doom For Basketball Players. But Kevin Durant Looks Like Himself Again.|Robert O'Connell|April 29, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Antetokounmpo delivered another screen, and DiVincenzo dropped a soft floater through the net.
The Bucks Are Trying To Win In Clutch Time Without Giving Giannis The Ball|Yaron Weitzman|March 12, 2021|FiveThirtyEight

He’s connecting on those shots at a 49 percent clip, and it’s an especially deadly weapon for him because of how well he disguises whether he’s shooting a floater or throwing an alley-oop.
How James Harden Changed His Game In Brooklyn|Jared Dubin|March 3, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Then all of a sudden the blue and yellow floater went under and little Hepzebiah caught a sunfish, too.
Seven O'Clock Stories|Robert Gordon Anderson
I been along the waterfront long enough t' know that th' lad that picks up a floater gets a reward o' ten dollars from th' city.
Captain Scraggs|Peter B. Kyne
I see Page did remember,—or perhaps she is a born floater, just as she is a bubble maker.
Vacation with the Tucker Twins|Nell Speed
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
It is as a floater that he excels in water sports; he rides the waves more lightly and gracefully than any other creature.
Days Off|Henry Van Dyke

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

floater

Origin of floater

Words nearby floater

Words related to floater

How to use floater in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for floater