DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

floating point

noun

a decimal point whose location is not fixed, used especially in computer operations.

Content related to floating point

Moot Point vs. Mute PointYou may have heard coworkers or acquaintances refer to an inconsequential or irrelevant point as a moot point, or maybe you’ve heard mute point instead. Fans of the TV show Friends may have heard a third variation: moo point (because, according to Joey, a cow’s opinion doesn’t matter). But which expression is correct, and what exactly does it mean? The correct phrase is moot point. …
READ MORE
🔍- Left-pointing Magnifying Glass Emoji - Emoji by Dictionary.comRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE

Words nearby floating point

floating gang, floating heart, floating island, floating kidney, floating partition, floating point, floating policy, floating rib, floating screed, floating spleen, floating stock
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Science definitions for floating-point

floating-point
[ flō′tĭng-point′ ]

Relating to a method of representing numerical quantities that uses two sets of integers, a mantissa and a characteristic, in which the value of the number is understood to be equal to the mantissa multiplied by a base (often 10) raised to the power of the characteristic. Scientific notation is one means of displaying floating-point numbers.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.