floating

[ floh-ting ]
See synonyms for floating on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. Pathology. away from its proper position, especially in a downward direction: a floating kidney.

  2. not fixed or settled in a definite place or state: a floating population.

  3. Finance.

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

    • composed of sums due within a short time: a floating debt.

  4. Machinery.

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

    • working smoothly.

Origin of floating

1
First recorded in 1555–65; float + -ing2

Other words from floating

  • float·ing·ly, adverb
  • non·float·ing, adjective
  • non·float·ing·ly, adverb
  • un·float·ing, adjective

Words Nearby floating

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use floating in a sentence

  • The fore and aft have beautiful decks carved into them, and windows from various rooms too: it looks like a floating Apple device.

  • After a bit of waiting, Mac decided that the smoke was floating from a certain direction, and we began to edge carefully that way.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • The fire crackled around the Dutch ovens, and the odor of coffee came floating by.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • It was like a dream of beauty suspended in the air before you—floating there—and you didn't want to disturb it.

  • She wore a gown of white tulle upon whose floating surface were a few dark-blue lilies.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • The pole was, therefore, continually floating or rising and falling in steam of ever-varying pressure.

British Dictionary definitions for floating

floating

/ (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

  1. not definitely attached to one place or policy; uncommitted or unfixed: the floating vote

  2. finance

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

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

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

  3. machinery operating smoothly through being free from external constraints

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

Derived forms of floating

  • floatingly, adverb

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