floating island
Americannoun
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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.
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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.
noun
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.
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
As I was wrapping up my last meal, which concluded with a soft cloud of meringue above a pool of custard sauce — ask for floating island — Jean-Baptiste appeared at the door.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 25, 2021
By the time they found the floating island, it had been over six months since they left the Paradise Islands, and they were feeling the effects of starvation.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
