float

American  

[floht] / floʊt /

verb (used without object)

• floats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• floated,
  past participle,  past
• floating
  present participle

1. to rest or remain on the surface of a liquid; be buoyant.

   The hollow ball floated.

2. to move gently on the surface of a liquid; drift along.

   The canoe floated downstream.

3. to rest or move in a liquid, the air, etc..

   a balloon floating on high.

   Synonyms:

   suspend, drift, waft, hover

4. to move lightly and gracefully.

   She floated down the stairs.

5. to move or hover before the eyes or in the mind.

   Romantic visions floated before his eyes.

6. to pass from one person to another.

   A nasty rumor about his firm is floating around town.

7. to be free from attachment or involvement.

8. to move or drift about.

   to float from place to place.

9. to vacillate (often followed bybetween ).

10. to be launched, as a company, scheme, etc.

11. (of a currency) to be allowed to fluctuate freely in the foreign-exchange market instead of being exchanged at a fixed rate.

12. (of an interest rate) to change periodically according to money-market conditions.

13. Commerce. to be in circulation, as an acceptance; be awaiting maturity.

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verb (used with object)

• floats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• floated,
  past participle,  past
• floating
  present participle

1. to cause to float.

2. to cover with water or other liquid; flood; irrigate.

3. to launch (a company, scheme, etc.); set going.

4. to issue on the stock market in order to raise money, as stocks or bonds.

5. to let (a currency or interest rate) fluctuate in the foreign-exchange or money market.

6. to make smooth with a float, as the surface of plaster.

7. Theater. to lay down (a flat), usually by bracing the bottom edge of the frame with the foot and allowing the rest to fall slowly to the floor.

noun

• floats
  plural

1. something that floats, as a raft.

2. something for buoying up.

3. an inflated bag to sustain a person in water; life preserver.

4. (in certain types of tanks, cisterns, etc.) a device, as a hollow ball, that through its buoyancy automatically regulates the level, supply, or outlet of a liquid.

5. Nautical. a floating platform attached to a wharf, bank, or the like, and used as a landing.

6. Aeronautics. a hollow, boatlike structure under the wing or fuselage of a seaplane or flying boat, keeping it afloat in water.

7. Angling. a piece of cork or other material for supporting a baited line in the water and indicating by its movements when a fish bites.

8. Zoology. an inflated organ that supports an animal in the water.

9. a vehicle bearing a display, usually an elaborate tableau, in a parade or procession.

   Each class prepared a float for the football pageant.

10. a glass of fruit juice or soft drink with one or more scoops of ice cream floating in it.

    a root-beer float.

11. (especially in the northeastern United States) a milkshake with one or more scoops of ice cream floating in it.

12. paddle.

13. Banking. uncollected checks and commercial paper in process of transfer from bank to bank.

14. the total amount of any cost-of-living or other variable adjustments added to an employee's pay or a retiree's benefits.

    a float of $6 per month on top of Social Security benefits.

15. an act or instance of floating, as a currency on the foreign-exchange market.

16. Building Trades.

    1. a flat tool for spreading and smoothing plaster or stucco.

    2. a tool for polishing marble.

17. a single-cut file of moderate smoothness.

18. a loose-fitting, sometimes very full dress without a waistline.

19. (in weaving and knitting) a length of yarn that extends over several rows or stitches without being interworked.

20. British. a sum of money used by a storekeeper to provide change for the till at the start of a day's business.

21. British. a small vehicle, usually battery powered, used to make deliveries, as of milk.

22. a low-bodied dray for transporting heavy goods.

23. Geology, Mining.

    1. loose fragments of rock, ore, etc., that have been moved from one place to another by the action of wind, water, etc.

    2. ore that has been washed downhill from an orebody and is found lying on the surface of the ground.

    3. any mineral in suspension in water.

24. British Theater. Usually floats. footlight.

float British  

/ fləʊt /

verb

1. to rest or cause to rest on the surface of a fluid or in a fluid or space without sinking; be buoyant or cause to exhibit buoyancy

   oil floats on water

   to float a ship

2. to move or cause to move buoyantly, lightly, or freely across a surface or through air, water, etc; drift

   fog floated across the road

3. to move about aimlessly, esp in the mind

   thoughts floated before him

4. to suspend or be suspended without falling; hang

   lights floated above them

5. (tr)

   1. to launch or establish (a commercial enterprise, etc)

   2. to offer for sale (stock or bond issues, etc) on the stock market

6. (tr) finance to allow (a currency) to fluctuate against other currencies in accordance with market forces

7. (tr) to flood, inundate, or irrigate (land), either artificially or naturally

8. (tr) to spread, smooth, or level (a surface of plaster, rendering, etc)

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noun

1. something that floats

2. angling an indicator attached to a baited line that sits on the water and moves when a fish bites

3. a small hand tool with a rectangular blade used for floating plaster, etc

4. any buoyant object, such as a platform or inflated tube, used offshore by swimmers or, when moored alongside a pier, as a dock by vessels

5. Also called: paddle. a blade of a paddle wheel

6. a buoyant garment or device to aid a person in staying afloat

7. a hollow watertight structure fitted to the underside of an aircraft to allow it to land on water

8. another name for air bladder

9. an exhibit carried in a parade, esp a religious parade

10. a motor vehicle used to carry a tableau or exhibit in a parade, esp a civic parade

11. a small delivery vehicle, esp one powered by batteries

    a milk float

12. a vehicle for transporting horses

13. banking the total value of uncollected cheques and other commercial papers

14. a sum to be applied to minor expenses; petty cash

15. a sum of money used by shopkeepers to provide change at the start of the day's business, this sum being subtracted from the total at the end of the day when calculating the day's takings

16. the hollow floating ball of a ballcock

17. engineering a hollow cylindrical structure in a carburettor that actuates the fuel valve

18. a carbonated soft drink with a scoop of ice cream in it

19. (in textiles) a single thread brought to or above the surface of a woven fabric, esp to form a pattern

20. forestry a measure of timber equal to eighteen loads

float Scientific  

/ flōt /

1. An air-filled sac in certain aquatic organisms, such as kelp, that helps maintain buoyancy.

2. Also called air bladder air vesicle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• floatability
  noun
• refloat
  verb
• outfloat
  verb (used with object)
• floatable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• floats
  plural

Participles

• floating
  present
• floated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• float
  simple
• floats
  simple
• have floated
  perfect
• has floated
  perfect
• am floating
  progressive
• are floating
  progressive
• is floating
  progressive
• have been floating
  perfect progressive
• has been floating
  perfect progressive

Past

• floated
  simple
• had floated
  perfect
• was floating
  progressive
• were floating
  progressive
• had been floating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will float
  simple
• will have floated
  perfect
• will be floating
  progressive
• will have been floating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of float

First recorded before 1000; Middle English floten, Old English flotian; cognate with Old Norse flota, Middle Dutch vloten; akin to Old English flēotan “to move swiftly” ( see fleet ²)

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Explanation

Float is what you do when you're lying on the water. Hopefully you know how to swim, so you can float suspended on the surface of the water, rather than sinking straight to the bottom. We typically think of the verb float as something you do on the surface of an ocean or pool, but it's possible to float in mid-air too. You just need to be attached to a parachute so you don't come crashing down to the ground. You can also "float on air" in a more figurative sense. For example, if the person you're in love with suddenly gives you flowers, you could float around for hours feeling like your feet aren't touching the ground.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

float floats floated floating

Kofi Asante wants to float a nuclear reactor on a barge off the Port of Long Beach—and government officials are actively trying to help make it happen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

I float amid the hundred-ish attendees, moving from conversation to conversation with various election geeks and wanna-be Josh Lymans.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026

Passengers float around in automated chairs, surrounded by screens, food and entertainment.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

As the theories continued to float around across various sub-meetings, with Hesmondhalgh and Bella Ramsey setting their sights on Myha'la, the celebrities headed out to their next mission.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Seven had nearly forgotten the gold button on their cloaks that allowed them to float on the wind.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Some coral species with fast-growing branches are planted onto "coral trees" that look like old television antennas and are suspended in the water column, with floats to keep them upright.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

I would arrive armed with what I liked to call my anti-drowning armour: armbands, floats, goggles, and a swimming hat.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

The most irritating thing about “Mutiny” is that it has decent ideas that it floats and then casts adrift.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

And in the culminating piece that gives the collection its title, she writes of the catastrophic betrayal that floats out of sight in the later writings of Alice Munro.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Behind her followed nine bands, four mounted brigades, more than twenty floats, and more than five thousand marchers.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Oasis first floated Chapek as a board candidate in July 2025, noting his experience in the hospitality industry, according to a Monday securities filing from Vail.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

One ambitious report published by the think tank floated the radical idea of curbing the credit-card swipe fees enforced at grocery stores.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

Then it was Feyi-Waboso's turn to come to the party as he cut a devastating line from outside to in after a huge floated pass from Skinner found him on the touchline.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Resuming blaring K-pop music -- which the isolated North has long bristled at -- across the border has been floated by analysts as a possible response to last month's blast.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

A red-hot ember floated down to the dry brown pine needles at their feet, and Akira watched as the pine needles caught fire with a whoomp.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

Aside from the floating reactors and cargo ships, the commission also says it has had some early-stage conversations with companies looking to power offshore oil rigs with nuclear barges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Workers used nets fixed to floating pontoons late Wednesday to guide the animal gradually, but it dived beneath a net and returned to the canal overnight, authorities said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

A Belfast cafe, meanwhile, had its bacon and egg soda bread dish represented as a glass of fizzy drink with a cooked egg and bacon floating in it.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

"You're floating around in the air, and you give a little tap with your foot, and you can sail over to say hello to your buddy."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026

She had somehow been knocked out of the main current and was either drifting aimlessly or was floating toward shore.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

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Related Words

• drift
• glide
• hang
• hover
• ride
• sail
• slide
• swim
• waft
• wash

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