| 释义 |
▪ I. float, n.|fləʊt|
Forms: 1 flot, 3–7 flote, (4–6 flot, 5 floote, floit, floyt(e, 7 flotte), 6–7 floate, 6– float.
[Several distinct formations, ultimately from the Teut. root fleut-, flaut-, flot- (see fleet v.), seem to have coalesced. 1. OE. flot str. neut. (dat. flote) action or state of floating; the formally equivalent ON. flot has also the sense ‘scum, grease’ (see flot). 2. OE. flota wk. masc. = ON. flote ship, boat, fleet. 3. In many of its senses the n. appears to have been a new formation on float v. 4. In some senses it may be an adoption of, or influenced by, the F. flotte (OF. flote and flot), verbal nouns f. flotter to float.
Cognate words, with senses corresponding to some of those of float, are OHG. flôȥ masc. (MHG. vlôȥ masc., mod.G. floss neut.) raft, buoy, fishing-net, also stream:—OTeut. *flauto-z; and OHG. floȥȥa (MHG. vloȥȥe, mod.Ger. flosse) fem., fin, swimming-bladder, cork float:—OTeut. *flotâ; an OE. *flotu, corresponding to the latter, may possibly be the source of sense 8.]
I. The action or state of floating or flowing.
1. a. The action of floating or † swimming. Now rare. † Formerly also, the condition of floating or of being on the water; esp. in phrase on (rarely at) float = afloat. † upon the float: floating on the stream; also fig. in an unsettled condition.
With on or at float cf. the synonymous ON. á floti, F. à flot (OF. a flote). For instances of on flote before 15th c., see afloat.
a1000Elene 226 (Gr.) Ongan þa ofstlîce eorla mengu to flote fysan. c1250Gen. & Ex. 162 God..taȝte fuel on walkene his fliȝt, Ilc fis on water his flotes miȝt. 1497Ld. Treas. Accts. Scot. (1877) I. 378 To ger hir [a ship] com on floit. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 117 A ship being on flote at the full sea. 1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxiv. (1739) 110 When both Winds and Currents are uncertain, to ride at flote, till [etc.]. 1652Ashmole Theat. Chem. Prol. 1 Past Ages have like Rivers conveied downe to us (upon the floate), the more light, and Sophisticall pieces of Learning. 1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 241 The next spring tide two fourth rates will also be putt on float. 1761Chron. in Ann. Reg. 68/1 The Richmond soon afterwards got on float. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. II. xvi. 60 Our ideas being perpetually upon the float. 1817Keats Calidore, And now the sharp keel of his little boat Comes up with ripple and with easy float.
b. transf. Buoyant motion through the air.
1807W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. V. 553 [He] must bid his pupil saw the air..and stamp the earth..if he means to produce the desirable float of arm, and radiation of leg.
c. Finance. An operation of floating a currency. Cf. float v. 1 d.
1971Daily Tel. 10 May 14 Between the two German mark ‘floats’—in Oct. 1969 and today—the international monetary scene has been comparatively calm. 1971Guardian 18 Aug. 18/3 A float against the dollar by a unified European block might provide the necessary breathing space. 1971Economist 4 Sept. 13/1 The Bank of Japan is operating energetically to prevent the float from being anything except a bogus one.
†2. The flux or flood of the tide. lit. and fig. at float, in float: at high water; in quots. fig.
1594Gesta Grayorum in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1807) III. 317 Cynthias rays, Whose drawing virtues govern and direct The flots and re-flots of the ocean. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. ix. §4 Our trust in the Almighty is that with us contentions are now at their highest float. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 139 Hee being now in Float for Treasure. 1633Ford Love's Sacr. ii. iii, Though the float Of infinite desires swell to a tide. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xxi. 141 Men of his profession have as well an ebbe of riot, as a flote of fortune. 1797A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) V. 182 With all her animal spirits in the fullest float of exhilaration.
†3.
a. A wave, billow. lit. and fig. Also, the sea.
c1477Caxton Jason 114 In trauersing the wawes and flotes of the see. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1304 A man which did swimme continually in the flotes of inconstancie. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 234 The rest o' th' Fleet..are vpon the Mediterranian Flote Bound sadly home for Naples. 1655Jennings tr. Elise 2 The mutinous flotes which beat the flanks of this great Bark.
†b. fig. Agitation of mind. Obs.
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 396/2 [They] haue not onely those flotes which the faithfull haue, when they feele themselues narrowly besette, but are hornemadde.
†4.
a. An overflow from a river, etc.; a flood; lit. and fig. on (a) float: in flood, flooded; = afloat 3; also fig. Obs.
1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist (1619) 317 Where a little before men went on foote, all then was on flote. 1590T. Watson Eglog. Walsingham 46 Poems (Arb.) 153 That your Pægasean springs may leap their bound and from their floate maie seas of teares distill. 1627May Lucan iv. 150 In their Nilus floats (quum tenet omnia Nilus). 1664Floddan F. iii. 28 That every brook burst forth on float. 1749Fielding Tom Jones v. iii, A very trifling accident set all his passions again on float. 1763Whitaker Serm. 30 June (1767) 37 How soon may we expect to see..a float of vice and error overspread our Jerusalem?
transf.1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 335 Closters engrosyd with his [Bacchus'] ruddy flotis.
†b. A side-stream or back-water.
1629H. Burton Babel no Bethel Ep. Ded. 4 A continuall current, that so merrily driues the Popish mills about, and sets ours in a back water or float.
† II. 5. The liquor in a dye-vat. Obs.
a1500E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 88 When the madere is in flotte, breke hit smalle, that ther be no ballys. Ibid., Tylle that the flote that is in the lede begynne to sethe.
III. A floating object.
6. A mass of weeds, ice, etc. floating on the surface of water.
1600Hakluyt Voy. III. 415 For the space of fifty leagues..we alwayes found swimming on the sea certaine flotes of weedes of a ships length, and of the bredth of two ships. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables clxxxix. 158 They took it at first for a Ship..but it prov'd at last to be no more then a Float of Weeds and Rushes. 1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 108 The river..casting forth..floats of ice like millstones. 1845Stocqueler Handbk. Brit. India (1854) 412 The heads of the sedges, reeds, and other plants of the float are now cut off and laid upon its surface.
7. a. A raft or raft-like construction.
1535Coverdale 2 Chron. ii. 16 And so wyll we hewe y⊇ tymber vpon Libanus..and wyll brynge it by flotes in the See vnto Iapho. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 189 A little before the Bark blew up he saw a small Float on the Water, and as it appeared, a Man on it. 1844Hull Dock Act 89 To remove any floats or rafts of timber.
b. A flat-bottomed boat. Also a boat-load. In quot. 1890 = fire-float. See also fishing-float.
1557North Guevara's Diall Pr. 260 a/1 The Flote that came oute of Cetin with salte, oyle, and honye. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. liv. §10. 280 An of-spring of the Britaines embarked in Flotes. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. II. 197 The Patriarch and his family were inclosed in an ark, or covered float. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 34 We..filled up the Vacancy..by throwing in several Floats of Clay. 1882Sir R. Payne-Gallwey Fowler in Irel. 25 The punts, or ‘floats’ as they are there [Wexford] called, are about fifteen feet long. 1890Times 25 Apr. 10/2 The four river floats were directed to be brought from their moorings to the fire.
8. A floating appliance for supporting something in the water.
a. The cork or quill used to support a baited line, showing by its movement when a fish bites.
a1450Treat. Fysshynge (1883) 16 Ye schall make ȝowr flotes in þys wise. a1609Dennys Secr. Angling i. in Arb. Garner I. 153 Your rod, line, float and hook. 1867F. Francis Angling i. (1880) 9 The floats should be proportioned to the depth and strength of the stream.
b. A cork or other light substance used to support a fishing-net, etc. in the water.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 110 The Corke hath the thickeste barke..Of his barke, are made..Floates for fishing nettes. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 12 Herring-net Floats..Mackerel-net Floats.
c. A hollow or inflated part or organ that supports an animal in the water. Hence used in Florida as a name for the genus Velella of medusæ.
1832Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 108 This ‘common oceanic snail’ derives its buoyancy from an admirably contrived float. 1888Riverside Nat. Hist. I. 107 Velella..is commonly called in Florida, where it is sometimes very abundant, the ‘float’.
d. In various other applications (see quots.).
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 883/2 Float..an inflated bag or pillow to sustain a person in the water. 1880Lumberman's Gaz. 28 Jan., Cribs are formed of about 20 sticks of timber fastened between two logs called ‘floats’. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4) 45 Respirator..a small nipple in the mouth with flexible tube supported by a float.
e. A structure fitted to the alighting gear of an aircraft to enable it to float on water.
1897Strand Mag. June 717/1 The conical vessel in front is an empty float, whose use is to keep the whole from sinking if it should fall in the water. 1909Flight 30 Jan. 63/1 Delagrange..has ordered a set of special floats for his aeroplane. 1913Aeroplane 17 Apr. 453 Labouret..‘stalled’ the machine, fell over sideways, and smashed..the right float. Ibid. 455 The concertina floats on this machine are evidently a great success. 1928C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station 13 Experiments with various types of floats and flotation bags for aeroplanes. 1941W. Nelson Airplane Lofting i. 11 Float bottoms are designed to give small water resistance, and the float as a whole is shaped to give as little air drag as is consistent with its other functions. 1958R. D. Blacker Basic Aeronaut. Sci. viii. 130/2 The particular model..is amphibious, inasmuch as it has wheels which are retracted into the floats by the pilot for water landings.
9. a. A hollow metallic ball, a piece of whinstone, etc., used to regulate the water-level in a boiler or tank. Also, in a petrol engine, a device which floats on the petrol in the float-chamber of the carburettor and regulates the supply so that the level remains constant.
1752Smeaton in Phil. Trans. (1754) XLVII. 436 What is peculiar to this engine is a float within the receiver, composed of a light ball of copper. 1856J. Bourne Catech. Steam Engine iv. (ed. 4) 154 The float is usually formed of stone or iron. 1901Motor-Car World Mar. 42/1 The Float. 1902A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors vii. 112, F is a float with wire attached to indicate the height of the petrol. 1912Motor Man. (ed. 14) 10 When the float sinks it opens a small valve and allows the petrol to flow in till a certain level is reached. The float then rises and closes the valve. 1967K. Ullyett 1100 Companion viii. 122 Fuel in the float chamber is maintained at constant level by float and needle in the conventional way.
b. The small piece of ivory on the surface of the mercury in the cistern of a barometer.
1855in Ogilvie Suppl.
10. Theatr. pl. The footlights; collect. sing. the row of footlights.
1829J. R. Planché Paris & London i. v. 24 A diagonal view of the stage of the Odeon is seen through the wings... At the end of the float a section of the audience and part of the theatre is visible. 1840A. Bunn Stage I. iii. 54 That mysterious line of light across the stage, (yclept in theatrical phraseology the float). 1862Dickens Let. 24 Jan. III. 212 Pauline trotting about in front of the float. 1871Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 291/1 Patent gas floats, for theatrical purposes. Ibid. 291/2 The range of Argand burners composing the float are arranged upside down. 1884L. Wingfield in Fortn. Rev. Apr. 476 A marvel, because it moved behind the floats.
11. One of the boards of an undershot water-wheel or of a paddle-wheel; a float-board.
1611Florio, Ala..the flot of a Water-mill-wheele. 1731H. Beighton in Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 10 The Force on the Floats 18 Ct. 40 lb. 1806Trevithick Let. in Life (1872) I. 327, I wish to know the size of the floats on the wheel. 1856J. Bourne Catech. Steam Engine viii. (ed. 4) 323 The paddle floats are usually made either of elm or pine.
IV. Something broad, level, and shallow.
12. Brewing. A broad shallow vat used for cooling. ? Obs.[Cf. Du. vloot fem. a broad shallow wooden vessel for creaming milk; also F. flotte, mentioned in 16th c. as part of a brewer's stock-in-trade (Littré).] 1413E.E. Wills (1882) 22 Y be-quethe..I gravers, an a flot, an a planer. 1616Surfl. Markh. Country Farme 587 Other vesselles called flotes or coolers, and they be broad like vnto the fats, but only one foot deepe.
13. One of the wooden frames attached to the sides, front, or back of a wagon or cart to increase the carrying capacity.
1686Plot Staffordsh. 354 A Cart that had its floats supported, with standards erected upon the ends of the Axles. 1887in Kent Gloss.
14. a. A low-bodied, crank-axled cart, used for carrying heavy articles, live stock, etc.
1866Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 3/4 The pikes and handles were removed in a float in the presence of a large crowd. 1891Sheffield Gloss. Suppl., Float, a deep cart..used for carrying pigs to market.
b. A platform on wheels, having a spectacular display arranged upon it, used in a procession.
1888Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 13 Sept. 2/4 A parade two miles long was composed of gay floats of all sorts of food-supplies. 1889Pall Mall G. 3 Oct. 6/3 A series of Floats representative of the Seven Centuries of the Mayoralty of London.
c. ellipt. = milk-float (milk n. 10).
1971Daily Tel. 19 Apr. 2/6 Postmen and milkmen should share deliveries from two-man floats.
†15. A unit of measurement for embanking work.
1707Mortimer Husb. xiv. 309 They [banks] are measured by the Float or Floor, which is eighteen foot square and one deep.
V. In various senses corresponding with senses of float v.
16. A tool for ‘floating’ or making level.
a. Plastering. A trowel or rule for giving a plane surface to the plaster. Also float-rule.
1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 249 Floats, made of Wood, with handles to them. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 380 It is then spread, or rather splashed, upon the wall by a float made of wood. 1853Dict. Arch. (Arch. Publ. Soc.), Float or Float Rule. 1876Rivingtons' Notes Build. Constr. II. 400 The surface is then gone over with a smaller hand float.
b. A file having parallel, but not diagonal, rows of teeth; a single-cut file.
1750Blanckney Naval Expositor, Float is an Instrument used by the Smiths to make their Work smooth, instead of a File. 1881Greener Gun 230 The two coils being joined..the barrels are heated, and the surplus metal removed with a float.
c. A tool used by bowyers, represented in the arms of the Bowyers' Company. Obs. exc. Her.
It is pictured as a flat plate with teeth on the under side and a handle at the top.
1823in Crabb Techn. Dict. 1828–40Berry Encycl. Her. I. U j, Bowyers..Sa. on a chev. betw. three floats or, as many mullets of the first.
d. Various. (See quots.)
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 883/2 Float..10 a polishing-block used in marble-working. A runner. Ibid., Float..6 the serrated plate used by shoemakers for rasping off the ends of the pegs inside the boot or shoe.
17. A dock or place where vessels may float.
1840Evid. Hull Docks Commiss. 207 The old rivers at Bristol have been penned up, and they are now made floats. 1867in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.
18. One of the trenches used in ‘floating’ land.
1785W. Marshall Midland Co. (1790) I. 278 The floats are trenches, receiving, by the means of floodgates..the waters of a river, brook, or rivulet, and conveying it along the upper margin, and upon the tops of the..swells of the field of improvement.
19. Tin-mining. (See quot.)
1778Pryce Mineral. Cornub. 137 [The blast] smelts the Tin [and] forces it out..into a moorstone trough six feet and a half high, and one foot wide, called the Float.
20. Geol. and Mining.
a. Loose rock or isolated masses of ore brought down by the action of water from their original formation. Also short for float-ore. Chiefly U.S.
1814Brackenridge Louisiana 146 That kind of ore called floats. 1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur viii. v. 503 Through the rocky float in the hollows of the road the agate hoofs drummed. 1885W. Nall in Trans. Cumb. & Westm. Antiq. Soc. VIII. 7 Lead ores were then classified by miners as float and shoad ore, or float and shoad.
b. (See quot.)
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Float, a clean rent or fissure in strata unaccompanied by dislocation.
21. Weaving. The passing of weft-threads over a portion of the warp without being interwoven with it; also the group or mass of thread so passed.
1863J. Watson Art Weaving 141 A contrivance that would..prevent Floats without any other drawback, would be a very good thing. 1882Morris Hopes & Fears Art iv. 150 The latter eke out their gaudy feebleness with spots and ribs and long floats.
22. U.S. (See quot. 1837.)
1837Ht.Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 93 Who..whenever a good tract of land is ready for sale, cover it over with their floats, (warrants of the required habitation), and thus put down competition. 1948E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 74 Quantities of affidavits were printed and distributed to paid agents, who with the co-operation of ignorant or corrupt justices of the peace secured floats wholesale for speculators.
23. U.S. A voter open to bribery. Cf. floater.
1885Pall Mall G. 6 Nov. 2 Something like one-twelfth of the remaining voters are ‘floats’—that is, men who are looking for money.
24. a. A sum of money in a shop, etc., used to provide change, small payments, etc., at the start of business; a shop till or its contents (slang); a small loan. Also attrib.
1902W. H. Chantrey Theatre Accounts ii. 24 There seems no necessity in a Theatre to have a Petty Cash Account, as each week the treasurer will reimburse all the small amounts which have been laid out by the various members of the staff, and if necessary a ‘float’ could be provided to meet this expenditure meanwhile. 1931Police Jrnl. Oct. 503 The other day a thief..stole (knocked off) the contents of the till (the float). 1955Times 8 July 6/7 Mrs. Foote produced {pstlg}57 from the shop till, which she said was her ‘float’. 1966L. Southworth Felon in Disguise xi. 159 Larceny of cash from the pub float of the ‘Crosby Arms’. 1967K. Giles Death in Diamonds ix. 170 The branch offices carry a float account because the salesmen get a portion of their commission the following morning after a sale. 1967V. Canning Python Project ii. 18 ‘That's a lot of money to keep around the flat.’ ‘My husband always said one should have a substantial cash float, just in case.’ 1969Times 1 Apr. 6/1 (Advt.), When you need a quick {pstlg}10 float, at any time, you go to a branch with a cash dispenser in the wall.
b. The amount of money represented by cheques, etc., in transit. Chiefly U.S.
1915H. P. Willis Federal Reserve xi. 228 There is, in short, a so-called ‘float’ which represents the volume of checks afloat in the mails at any time and not liquidated. 1924W. O. Scroggs Cent. Banking Progress 273 The amount of these checks continually in transit, the ‘float’, was estimated at about $300,000,000. 1930Economist 18 Oct. 707/2 A..‘float’, that is, clearing house checks and exchanges in transit, the volume of which depends largely on stock market activity. 1931T. E. Gregory in W. Rose Outl. Mod. Knowl. xv. 652 As the volume of speculation grows, the ‘float’, i.e. the sums due at any moment, also increases.
VI.
25. Comb., as float-ball, the ball of a ball-cock; float-barrel, ? a barrel used as a float for a fishing-net; float-bladder (see sense 8 c); float-board, one of the boards of an undershot water-wheel; one of the paddles of a paddle-wheel; float-bridge, a bridge of floats or rafts; float-case, = caisson 2 d; float-chamber, a small chamber in the carburettor of a petrol engine from which petrol, maintained at a constant level by the action of a float, is supplied to the jets; float-copper (see float-mineral); float-cut a., (of a file) cut in the manner of a float (see sense 16 b); float-feed, a device for controlling the feed of a liquid by means of a float; also attrib.; float-fescue, a variety of fescue-grass (Festuca); float-file, a single-cut file; float fish (see quot.); float-fishing, fishing with a line and float (sense 8 a); float-fox-tails, a variety of Alopecurus or fox-tail grass; float-gauge (see quot.); float glass, glass manufactured by the float process; † float-glassed a., mirrored in the waves; float-gold (see float-mineral); float-light, a light-ship; float-line, a perpendicular line drawn from a float on the surface of a fluid to a specified point below the surface; float-mineral, fragments of ore detached and carried away by the action of water or by erosion; also, fine particles of metal which are detached in the process of stamping and do not readily settle in water; float needle, a thin rod attached to a float (sense 9 a) which by passing into or out of the inlet to the float-chamber allows less or more petrol to enter it; float-net, a net supported by floats; † float-ore1, a kind of seaweed; float-ore2, float-quartz (see float-mineral); float-plane = float-seaplane; float process, a process for making flat glass in which the glass is drawn in a continuous sheet from the melting tank and made to float on the surface of molten metal in a controlled atmosphere while it hardens; float road U.S. (see quot. 1905); float-seaplane, a seaplane equipped with floats; float-shooter, one who goes shooting wild-fowl from a punt at night; float-valve (see quot.). Also float-boat, float-grass, float-stone.
1824R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 156 Having a *float⁓ball o, which opens and shuts the valve p.
1891Black Donald Ross I. 266 Lobster-creels and *float-barrels.
1866Hartwig Sea & Wond. xvii. (ed. 3) 354 A large *float⁓bladder.
1719Desaguliers Exp. Philos. (1744) II. 425 It is no Advantage to have a great Number of *Float-Boards. 1858Lardner Handbk. Nat. Phil. 135 Breast wheels.—This class of water wheels resemble in their form and construction the undershot wheel—the float-boards, however, being closer together.
1692Siege Lymerick 14 This day was chiefly spent in removing our *Float-Bridge nearer the Town.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 883/2 *Float-case.
1901Motor-Car World Mar. 42/1 Should petrol run over at the jet when the pressure is on, give the spindle in the centre of the *float-chamber a few turns with a screwdriver to grind in the needle valve. When the engine is not running keep the spring on the float needle. 1967K. Ullyett 1100 Companion viii. 125 It is a compact, dustproof carburetter, with concentric float chamber.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Float-Copper..fine scales of metallic copper..which do not readily settle in water.
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Float-Cut..a file having single lines of cutting teeth only.
1902A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors vii. 115 The method of supplying petrol to the carburetter is on the same principle.., *float feed. 1907Westm. Gaz. 28 Nov. 4/1 The carburetter is of the float-feed type. Ibid. 5 Dec. 4/2 Carburetter..of the usual float-feed spray type.
1759B. Stillingfl. Grasses in Misc. Tracts (1762) 387 The grass..proved to be the *flote Fescue. 1834Brit. Husb. I. xxxiii. 520 The flote fescue, flote fox-tails, and rough-stalked poa.
1794W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberland I. 27/1 note, After they have spawned they [Salmon] are called *float fish.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. p. xxxiv, Some apparatus for *float-fishing.
1816–20T. Green Univ. Herbal I. 81 Alopecurus Geniculatus, *Flote Fox-tail Grass. 1834[See float-fescue above.]
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Float Gauge, a water gauge, where the height of water in a steam boiler is registered by means of a float.
1959Times 21 Jan. 10/3 The advantages of *float glass..include its freedom from distortion. 1962Guardian 25 June 4/6 Float glass is an entirely new glass which combines the best qualities of both plate and sheet glass.
1632Lithgow Trav. i. 5 Where *flot-glass'd Nymphs, the Circe fled, Greeks enstal.
1873J. Miller Life amongst Modocs xvi. 204 They had found only a few bars with *float gold. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Float-gold, Pac[ific]. 1890Pall Mall G. 28 May 2/1 If, on the other hand, you crush too fine, you get ‘float gold’.
1819J. Hodgson in J. Raine Mem. (1857) I. 265 The *float-light in sight (a vessel anchored in the deeps).
1833Herschel Astron. iii. 155 The difference of the two *float lines gives the height in question.
1901*Float needle [see float-chamber above]. 1965Punch 8 Dec. 824/1 Bits of radio aerial, carburettor float needles, and an AA route from Leicester to Devizes.
1647R. Stapylton Juvenal 31 A retiarius, or net-bearer, so named from a kind of *floate net, which he carryed in his hand.
1602Carew Cornwall 27 b, This *Floteore is now and then found naturally formed like rufs, combs, and such like.
1683Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 6 Also all float or Easy-flowing oars. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Float⁓ore, water-worn particles of ore.
1922Flight XIV. 126/2 Seaplanes include *Float Planes and Flying Boats, denoting, respectively, seaplanes fitted with floats or hull. 1939War Weekly 24 Nov. 140/4 It is almost impossible to make a floatplane anything like as fast as a landplane. 1958Listener 20 Nov. 818/2 Nothing can be more hazardous than landing a float-plane among sea ice. 1965New Scientist 27 May 577/1 The Organization of the USSR State Committee on Aviation Technology has patented a device..for use on cargo floatplanes.
1959Economist 24 Jan. 346/1 In the *float process, a continuous ribbon of molten glass is fed out of the furnace across the surface of a tank of molten metal in a controlled atmosphere, gradually being allowed to cool. 1964Guardian 6 Aug. 11/8 The float process's main advantage is that it cuts costs considerably, uses less labour, and takes up less than half the space of a production line using the grinding polishing method. 1970Physics Bull. Apr. 153/1 The development of the float process for the manufacture of a continuous ribbon of flat glass has provided a rich variety of novel technological and scientific problems.
1872― Statist. Mines & Mining 212 A section of country twenty miles long..is covered with *float quartz.
1901F. A. Montgomery Reminisc. Mississippian 115 Next morning I determined to follow an old *float road in which we found ourselves. 1905Terms Forestry & Logging 37 Float road, a channel cleared in a swamp and used to float cypress logs from the woods to the boom at the river or mill.
1919W. B. Faraday Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms 72 *Float seaplane, an aeroplane provided with floats for alighting on water. 1928C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station xiii. 212 The flying-boat is not so fast, nor has it the same ceiling, as float-seaplanes.
1882Sir R. Payne-Gallwey Fowler in Irel. 27 Two *float-shooters, lying low in their boats on the look-out for fowl.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 885/2 *Float-valve, a valve actuated by a float so as to open or close the port, according to the level of the liquid.
Senses 12–25 in Dict. become 13–25, 27. Restrict † to sense 5 and add: [III.] 12. A soft drink with a scoop of ice-cream (or sherbert, etc.) floating in it. Freq. with qualifying word, as ice-cream float. Cf. spider n. 4. N. Amer. (orig. U.S.).
1915E. F. White Spatula Soda Water Guide (ed. 4) 59/2 The glass is not filled quite full, there being room enough left for the portion of ice cream... They are sometimes termed ice cream floats. 1918Soda Fountain Feb. 21/1 Do you like coffee?..Our coffee float..10¢. 1950J. H. Fransden Ice Creams xxiii. 242 Float, an ade, freeze, ricky, milk shake or other drink on the top of which fruit ice, sherbet or Ice Cream is floated. 1980Washington Post 25 July (Weekend Suppl.) 36/2 Afterward, steer your thirsty crew to Mr. Chocolate's Ice Cream Garden for ice-cream floats.
[V.] 26. In Critical Path Analysis, the period of time by which the duration of an activity may be extended. Usu. with preceding adjective: see free float s.v. *free a., n., and adv. D. 2; independent float s.v. independent a. and n. A. 6 b; total float s.v. total a. and n. A. 5. Cf. slack n.3 3 c.
1959Kelly & Walker in Proc. Eastern Joint Computer Conf. 163/1 If the maximum time available for a job exceeds its duration, the job is called a floater... There are several measures of float of interest in this connection. 1964K. G. Lockyer Introd. Crit. Path Analysis v. 44 Cases do arise where the absorption of float affects neither earlier nor later activities. 1973G. E. Whitehouse Syst. Analysis & Design iii. 39 Float is a measure of allowable delay or leeway. 1980R. E. Shannon Engin. Managem. x. 318 The difference, or cushion, is called slack or float.
▪ II. float, v.|fləʊt|
pa. tense and pa. pple. floated. Forms: 1 flotian, 3 floten, flotten, 4 flotie(n, 4–7 flote, (8 floate), 6– float. pa. tense 4 flotte. pa. pple. 7 flote.
[OE. flotian = MDu. vlôten, ON. flota:—OTeut. *flotôjan, f. *flot- weak grade of root of *fleutan to float or flow: see fleet v. The development of sense in ME. was doubtless influenced by the synonymous OF. floter (mod.F. flotter), Sp. flotar, It. fiottare:—med.L. type *flottare, f. OTeut. *flotto- f. the same root as Eng. float.]
I. Intransitive senses.
1. a. To rest on the surface of any liquid; to be buoyed up; to be or become buoyant.
a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1031 (Parker MS.) Beo an scip flotiᵹende swa neh þan lande swa hit nyxt mæᵹe. c1200Vices & Virt. (1888) 33 Ele..wile flotten ouer alle wætes. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. (1493) 131 b/1 Whan the tyme approched of the passyon of our lord thys tree..floted aboue the water. 1585J. B. tr. Viret's Sch. Beastes D v b, Halcions..builde their houses..the which may flote..uppon the Sea. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. vi. 193 Men being drowned and sunke, doe float the ninth day. 1782Cowper Royal George 30 Her timbers yet are sound, And she may float again. 1878Huxley Physiogr. iv. 57 Ice floats readily on water.
fig.1773Gray Let. in Corr. (1843) 151 All that floated on the surface of my mind is faded away and gone.
b. Of a stranded vessel: To get off the ground, to get afloat.
1699W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. 98 Our ship did not float then, nor the next Tide neither.
c. fig. to float in one's cups: to be half drunk, ‘half seas over’.
1630Wadsworth Sp. Pilgr. vi. 58 M. P. floting in his Cups, began a discourse.
d. transf. Finance. Of a currency: to fluctuate as regards its international exchange rate. Also trans., to arrange for (a currency) so to fluctuate.
1965Guardian 30 Sept. 1/8 The decision to let the mark float was forced on the German authorities by a sudden inflow of funds. 1965J. L. Hanson Dict. Economics & Commerce 182/1 To permit the pound to ‘float’..would..be a return to free exchange rates. 1970Daily Tel. 2 June 20/7 Foreign exchange markets went into a flurry of activity as a result of the decision to float the Canadian dollar. 1971Ibid. 10 May 14 If the mark floats high, sterling and the franc may face large inflows of foreign currency. 1971Economist 4 Sept. 3/2 Japan nominally floats the yen, but really keeps it fixed.
2. a. To move quietly and gently on the surface of a liquid, participating in its motion.
a1300Cursor M. 24833 (Cott.) Forth þai floted on þat flod. 13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 248 A wylde walterande whal..bi þat bot flotte. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 325 The Corps now..floted up and down the River. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lxvi. 268 Upon a very little raft, where we floated at the mercy of the waves. 1790Burns Peg Nicholson, Now she's floating down the Nith. 1836W. Irving Astoria I. 126 The boat floating near to him he seized hold of it.
fig.1752Young Brothers iv. i, The vulgar float as passion drives. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. 3 To have floated down upon the stream of general tradition. 1832Examiner 802/1 The new Parliament will float with the stream of public opinion. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. I. iii. 397 Christianity floated into the Roman Empire on the wave of credulity.
†b. transf. of a person: To move up and down; be conversant. Obs.
c1315Shoreham 21 Thaȝ he her were inne hys manhode Amanges ous to flotie.
c. quasi-trans. = to float upon.
1705J. Philips Blenheim 236 Upborne By frothy billows thousands float the stream In cumbrous mail. 1829Clare Autumn in Anniver. 76 Weeds, That float the water's brim.
d. Electr. Of a part of an electrical circuit: to be unconnected to a source of fixed potential.
1931Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXXI. 688 The grid of the first valve floats at a potential just over 2 volts negative with respect to the negative end of the filament. 1945R. C. Walker Electronic Equipment iii. 54 A floating grid acquires a negative potential by collecting electrons from the cathode emission, and its final potential is in equilibrium with the cathode stream. 1947F. G. Spreadbury Electronics ii. 94 Instead of allowing the probe to float, a potential difference is maintained between it and either the cathode or anode. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 118/2 A floating input that can be operated up to 500 v above ground.
3. a. To be suspended in a liquid with freedom to move; also, to move freely beneath the surface. † Of a fish: To swim.
1596Spenser F.Q. vii. vii. 21 The fish, still floting, doe at random range. 1696Whiston Th. Earth iii. (1722) 278 The Parts of the present upper Strata..floated in the Waters among one another uncertainly. 1727Swift Gulliver ii. viii. 165 My box..floated about five feet depth in water. 1882Vines Sachs' Bot. 437 The mass of mother-cells..floats entirely free in the fluid that fills the sporangium.
b. To be drenched or flooded; to ‘run’, ‘swim’. rare—1. (Cf. 10.)
1725Pope Odyss. xiii. 452 The pavements float with guilty gore.
†4.
a. To move unsteadily to and fro like an object on the surface of a liquid; to oscillate, undulate; fig. to vacillate, waver. Obs.
1598Bacon Sacr. Medit. vi. (Arb.) 113 A state of minde, which in all doubtfull expectations is setled and floteth not. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 190 Let the instrument rest till the Water has done floating. 1716Collier tr. Nazianzen 8 Their Mother..floated between Joy and Fear. 1763Scrafton Indostan (1770) 71 Floating between his fears and wishes.
b. nonce-use. To spread in undulating form.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 503 His circling Spires..on the grass Floted redundant.
c. Mil. Of a column on the march: To present a wavy line; to be unsteady.
1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 263 The march in line is uniformly steady, without opening, floating, or closing. 1810[see floating vbl. n. 1 a].
5. a. To move freely and gently in or through the air, as if buoyed up or carried along by it.
1634Milton Comus 249 How sweetly did they flote upon the wings Of silence. 1667Dryden Ind. Emp. i. ii, What Divine Monsters, O ye gods, were these That float in air and flye upon the Seas! 1725Pope Odyss. vi. 358 To the ear Floats a strong shout along the waves of air. 1782Cowper Retirement 192 The clouds that flit, or slowly float away. 1808Med. Jrnl. XIX. 313 Dark spots floating constantly before the eye. 1888Besant Inner House xvi. 188 A long tent before which floated a great flag on a flagstaff.
b. nonce-use. of the air itself, or portions of it.
1667Milton P.L. vii. 432 The Aire Floats, as they pass, fann'd with unnumber'd plumes.
c. fig. esp. with sense: To move or hover dimly before the eye or in the mind; also of a rumour, etc.: To pass from mouth to mouth.
1775Sheridan Rivals Pref., Faded ideas float in the fancy like half-forgotten dreams. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. viii, Here floated the latest anecdote of Bolivar. 1857Livingstone Trav. xii. 224 The remnants of serpent-worship floating in their minds. 1882Shorthouse J. Inglesant II. 225 He tried to read, but the page floated before his eyes.
d. To move or proceed, esp. in a leisurely or casual way; to wander from place to place. slang (orig. U.S.).
1901‘H. McHugh’ John Henry 10 I'm sitting on the sofa..when my lady friend floats into the arena. 1909R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 96 So I just floated, punchin' cows most o' the time but not runnin' very long over the same range. 1931‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route i. 15 The hobo really floats, which explains the name ‘floater’, by which he is often labelled. 1935G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade 232 Come on. Let's float. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid v. 53, I floated because I got fed up and wanted her to turn in thanking me. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 192 Juvenile language is well stocked..with expressions inviting a person's departure,..flit, float away, [etc.]. 1970Globe Mag. (Toronto) 26 Sept. 18/2 Some immigrants are bound to float on, but is Canada really doing very well for itself when a chartered accountant like Chris Mawhood gets turned off?
6. Weaving. Of a thread: To pass over or under several threads either of the warp or weft, instead of being interwoven with them. Of a figure: To have its threads lying in this manner.
1878A. Barlow Weaving 104 When either of the white or black threads disappear on one side of the cloth, they are not found floating underneath. 1883T. R. Ashenhurst Design in Textile Fabrics vi. 159 Lappet figures..must ‘float’ the entire length of the figure.
7. Comm.
a. Of an acceptance: To be in circulation, to be awaiting maturity.
b. Of a commercial company, etc.: To meet with public support, get ‘floated’ (see 12).
1778H. Laurens in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) II. 234 Our bills..are now floating, in imminent danger of dishonor and disgrace. 1884Truth 13 Mar. 385/2 If the Company floats, the promoter gets his money.
†8. To fish with a float (see float n. 8 a).
1630[see flat v. 10]. 1651J. Barker Art of Angling (1653) 8, I will shew my opinion of floating for Scale Fish in the River or Pond.
9. Sporting. To hunt by approaching the game with a boat or float at night. (See float n. 7 b.)
1871J. Burroughs Wake-Robin (1884) 106 Our guide proposed to conduct us to a lake..where we could float for deer. 1877Hallock Sportman's Gazetteer 83 In jacking or floating, the shooter sits in the bow of a canoe just behind a lantern which throws a powerful light ahead. 1885Outing (U.S.) Oct. VII. 80/2 ‘Kill any deer over there?’ ‘No,’ said Carl, ‘we floated two nights, but it was terrible foggy.’
II. Transitive senses.
10. To cover or flood with a liquid.
a. To cover (land) with water, either naturally or artificially, esp. for agricultural or military purposes; to flood, inundate, irrigate. Also with over.
1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 16 The first Piece of improvement of floating or watering lands. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 70 They can by them [ditches] floate y⊇ grounds for 3 miles round. 1794Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts XII. 245 The above land was floated over by salt water, every full and change of the moon. 1816Jane Austen Emma (1866) 158 He thought..I should find the near way floated by this rain. 1833H. Martineau Brooke Farm xiii. 97 Can he float his meadows at the cost of five pounds an acre?
b. (chiefly hyperbolical) To overspread with fluid; to drench, inundate. Also, To saturate (a powder magazine) with water.
1729Savage Wanderer ii. 228 A smoaking spring of gore Wells from the wound, and floats the crimson'd floor. 1758Parry in Naval Chron. VIII. 154 We had taken care to float our powder. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India I. iii. iv. 624 The field was floated with blood. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxvi, The danger [from fire] had been so great that the fore magazine had been floated.
c. transf. and fig.
1586J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 84/1 The ladie Margaret began to take heart, hir naturall stoutnesse floted, as well by the remembrance of hir noble birth, as by [etc.]. 1603J. Davies Microcosmos (Grosart) 71/1 Each sense in pleasure's seas shee [Fancie] flotes. 1860Hawthorne Marb. Faun (1879) I. xii. 115 A..military band..floating her [the city] with strains. 1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. (1875) 16 He [Burke] so lived by ideas..that he could float even an epoch of concentration and English Tory politics with them.
11. a. Of water, the tide, etc.: To lift up, or support on its surface (anything buoyant); to bear (anything buoyant) along by the force of the current; occas. with mixture of the two senses. Also with off, out, up.
1606Choice, Chance, etc. 5 With a sodaine tempest man and horse ouerthrown vpon a Rock, and the goods all flote or drownd. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. 44 For want of Water to float them over some flats in the Lagunes. Ibid. 98 The Tide then rose so high, as to float her quite up. 1739C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 34 The Tide had..risen so high as to endanger the Caisson..from being floated out of its true Place. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xiv. 149 They [masses of ice] are floated off to be lost in the temperatures of other regions. 1890Spectator 20 Sept. 362/2 The Manchester Canal..will float the biggest ocean steamers.
fig.1877Owen Wellesley's Desp. Introd. 19 The vehement tide of public opinion..floated out the good old nobleman who had first broken Tippoo's power.
b. To set afloat; fig. to buoy up, support.
1823Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Poor Relation, She has wherewithal in the end..to float him again upon the brilliant surface. 1885Law Rep. 15 Q. Bench Div. 11 He expended more than 5000 l. in floating the ship.
c. To place (a sheet of paper, etc.) flat on the surface of a liquid. Chiefly Photogr.
1853Fam. Herald 3 Dec. 510/2 You float on the surface of this a sheet of paper prepared as follows. 1882Abney Instr. Photogr. (ed. 5) 199 If the paper is floated much longer..the albumen..is apt to dissolve the size.
12. a. To get (a company, scheme, etc.) afloat or fully started (see afloat 6); to procure public support or acceptance for.
1833H. Martineau Vanderput & S. vi. 102 The means by which a present neighbour of yours is floating a scheme. 1865Pall Mall G. 18 Aug. 9/1 Manufacturing lists of directors for new companies, in order to get them ‘floated’. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 311 Serves as a reservoir for floating loans in cases of emergency. 1872Greg Enigmas 229 The sages..have falsified their creed, in order to float it.
b. To set (a rumour) afloat (see afloat 8); to give currency to; to circulate.
1883St. James's Gaz. 21 Dec. 3/1 Floating all manner of embarrassing rumours.
13. To guide or convey along the surface of water; to convey by water. Also with off.
1739C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 35 The Sides of the Caisson were floated off over the Sides of the Pier. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. I. (1846) V. 8 The treasures of Africa were floated on rafts to the mouth of the Euphrates. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 385 The great tubes constituting the Conway Bridge were floated across the river.
14. To convey gently through the air or ether; to cause to move lightly in the air; to waft.
1823F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 22 A soft breath of wind spread its folds, and floated it gently in the air. 1836Emerson Nature, Commodity Wks. (Bohn) II. 143 Provision..for his support..on this green ball which floats him through the heavens. 1840Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile Poems 1850 I. 83 Floated on a minor fine Into the full chant divine, We will draw you smoothly.
15. In various technical applications of senses 10, 11.
a. Pigment-making. To levigate (pigments) by causing them to float in a stream of water, rejecting the heavier particles that sink to the bottom.
b. Electrotyping and Stereotyping. To cover (a forme, a page of type) with fluid plaster of Paris, either to fill up the spaces before electrotyping, or (in the almost obsolete plaster-process) to form a plaster mould.
c. to float up (a tin can) (see quot. 1884).
1880F. J. F. Wilson Stereotyping & Electrotyping 128 The page or pages must be floated in plaster-of-Paris. Ibid. 134 When low spaces are used and the form has not been floated prior to moulding. 1883R. Haldane Workshop Receipts Ser. II. 405 The powder is then levigated (floated), in order to obtain various degrees of fineness. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. IV. 348/2 ‘Floating up’ tin cans, i.e. soldering the ends inside, the can standing upon the heated plate till the solder runs.
16. To render smooth or level. In various technical uses:
a. Plastering. To level (the surface of plaster) with a ‘float’; to spread the second coat of plaster on (a ceiling, wall, etc.). Also with down.
b. Farriery. To file the teeth of (a horse).
c. Agric. (See quots.)
d. Wool-spinning. To take off (the carded wool) in an even layer.
a.a1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 249 To float Seelings or Walls. 1741in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 36 The Ceilings..to be floated and finished in the best and workmanlike manner. 1748B. Langley Lond. Prices 329 Fronts of old Houses..are frequently floated down, the old decay'd Mortar raked out, and the Joints fresh pointed anew. 1839Pract. Builder II. 187 The space between the screeds..must be floated with a hand-float.
b.1886N.Y. Weekly Tribune 28 Dec. (Cent.) Many an old horse will renew its life if its teeth are floated, as the process is called.
c.1785W. Marshall Midland Co. (1790) II. 437 Float..to pare off the surface of sward. 1888Sheffield Gloss., Float, to pare stubble from land by means of a paring knife.
d.1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 341/1 The teeth move in the same direction as those on the workers and cylinder, so as to clean or ‘float’ off the wool.
17. Weaving. To form (a figure) with ‘floating’ threads (see 6).
1894Textile Manuf. 15 Apr. 151 This method of reeding..necessitates the figure being floated.
▸ trans. colloq. (orig. U.S.). to float a person's boat: to interest or excite a person; to appeal to or suit a person. Esp. in whatever floats a person's boat.
1981Sunday Herald (Chicago, Illinois) 16 Aug. v. 7/4 Venus enters your house of travel on the 18th to stay until Sept. 12, so make getaway any way you can. Fly, drive, row or read. Whatever floats your boat. 1989T. Parker Place called Bird xxi. 259 Whatever floats your boat, you've been doing it all your life. 1991Blitz Sept. 103 Over the following four pages..is a composite of the men and women who float our boats and why. 1995Midwest Living Apr. 51/1 (advt.) There are plenty of opportunities for fishing, swimming, hiking, biking or whatever floats your boat. 2002More! 3 Apr. 97/4 Small breasts don't float my boat. |