refloat
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put (a boat or a beached whale) back into the water.
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to reintroduce or re-establish (an idea, project, business, etc.), often on a new or better footing.
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to issue again.
Other Word Forms
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:
"When we refloat an animal, we're assessing it in the water for the first time. Seeing it swim off strongly is exhilarating - it means it has a good chance."
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
On the way back south, it spent four days unloading cargo from the Thamesborg, the vessel grounded in the Franklin Strait, to help refloat it before the onset of new ice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
Last week, cleanup crews were able to refloat the Dali and guide it back to port.
From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2024
By 3:30 p.m. local time, rescue teams decided to euthanize the surviving animals “on welfare grounds,” after it was determined that rough waves and shallow beach conditions made it unsafe to refloat them.
From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2023
And besides," thought Pencroft, "why should it be impossible to refloat the brig?
From The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
Two dams have been built to isolate the damaged section and many of the stranded boats have already been refloated.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
It was only barely refloated by rescue vessels before new ice formed, which would have trapped it over winter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
The controlled demolition will allow the Dali to be refloated and guided back into the Port of Baltimore.
From Seattle Times ● May 11, 2024
Treasury Department sanctions being refloated in Indonesia is filled with Venezuelan fuel, according to vessel monitoring services.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2022
Blue Team’s sixteen lost ships, which were lying at the bottom of the Persian Gulf, were refloated.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
New recruits get to practise refloating an animal of that size using a life-sized two tonne replica pilot whale, which is filled with air and water.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
This new strategy would take about two weeks, the Coast Guard said, adding that it offered “the best chance of successfully refloating the Ever Forward.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2022
Eslam Negm, 33, who worked on its salvage efforts, said the success in refloating the ship in March made him “feel like I was a part of something huge.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2021
The president says he asked the canal chief what the most challenging aspect of refloating the vessel might be.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2021
Along the banks logs grounded, and were rolled over by their own momentum into places so shallow as to discourage any hope of refloating them unless by main strength.
From The Riverman by Stewart Edward White
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