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floating island

American  

noun

  1. a dessert consisting of boiled custard with portions of meringue, whipped cream, or whipped egg whites and sometimes jelly floating upon it or around it.

  2. a floating mass of earth and partly decayed vegetation held together by interlacing roots, as on a lake: usually formed by the accumulation of plant litter; sometimes artificially built on wooden platforms, as in Asia.


floating island British  

noun

  1. a floating mass of soil held together by vegetation

"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 floating island

First recorded in 1630–40


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.

See Examples For:

A small, floating island on a lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia has been spotted again after officials lost track of it on satellite images following its initial discovery.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Surge, the newsletter world’s floating island of garbage—but a floating island of garbage that fights for you.

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2024

Desserts include a floating island with Japanese-style cheesecake.

From New York Times ● May 31, 2022

This year, to meet the increasing demand for novelty, he debuted a floating island that looks like a sushi roll, complete with a set of inflatable chopsticks that serve as pool noodles.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2021

He’d checked out; he was on some floating island made of graphite and paper where this reality didn’t exist.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

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