float

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   convert from a fixed point notation to a floating point notation

   float data

2. 2
   verb

   allow (currencies) to fluctuate

   The government floated the ruble for a few months

3. 3
   verb

   make the surface of level or smooth

   float the plaster

4. 4
   verb

   put into the water

   float a ship

5. 5
   verb

   move lightly, as if suspended

   The dancer floated across the stage

6. 6
   verb

   set afloat

   The sawyers floated the logs down the river to the mill.

7. 7
   verb

   To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).

   Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't.

8. 8
   verb

   To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density.

   to float a boat

Etymology

From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Compare flow, fleet.