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:
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
Attempts will be made to refloat the ship at high tide on Wednesday morning.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2023
The canal authorities said they managed to refloat and tow away the BW Lesmes, while efforts were underway to remove the Burri from the waterway.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
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
I shall buy the Dolphin steam tug—I can get her on easy terms of payment—fill her with coal and stores, and go to Kent's Group in Bass's Straits, and try and refloat the Braybrook Castle.
From A Memory Of The Southern Seas 1904 by Louis Becke
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 mysterious tanker that caused a major oil spill after capsizing off Trinidad and Tobago in February has been successfully refloated, the government said.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
The demolition will allow the Dali to be refloated and guided back into the port.
From Seattle Times ● May 13, 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
News organisations followed every development, from its successful refloating to its relaunch last Friday.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025
At the same time, crews are working to remove some containers from the cargo ship Dali before lifting steel spans off its bow and refloating the vessel.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
Daren Grover, general manager at charity Project Jonah, which deals with stranded whales, said there were also not enough people in the area to help with refloating.
From Reuters ● Oct. 11, 2022
But with a backlog that had grown to over 300 vessels waiting to transit the canal, the refloating was not the end of the affair.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 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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