afloatadj.adv.
/əˈfləʊt/, U.S. /əˈfloʊt/ Many (and most early) predicative uses treated under the adjective can also be regarded as adverbial. Corresponding senses in branch A. that are recorded earlier are noted individually in B. Examples with keep, stay, etc., are under the adjective.
A. adj. In predicative use, except when noted. Many uses can also be regarded as adverbial.
I. In literal, physical senses.
1.
a. Floating on the sea or on any stretch of water (or other liquid) of sufficient depth to support a body; not sinking, not aground; at sea, as opposed to being in dock or in a dockyard.
ΚΠ
OE Royal Charter: Cnut to Christ Church, Canterbury (Sawyer 959) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 158 Hit bið full flod & þæt scip bið aflote.
a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) l. 9128 The haven, where as the ship aflote [a1500 BL Add. of flote] Was She fonde redy.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias i. viii. 21 He well knew, that at the next floud the ship would be afloate againe.
1648 R. Rich Let. from Navy 6 This Ship is called the Satisfaction, a Navy-ship of 28 Guns, now afloat again.
1791 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 810/2 The mode of destroying them [sc. beetles]..is to put out the fire at bed-time.., and lay a little treacle on a piece of wood afloat in a broad pan of water.
1833 United Service Jrnl. June 183 Calms and fogs obliged us to make fast to an iceberg afloat in 200 fathoms.
1872 C. R. Low Great Battles Brit. Navy xiv. 241 Nelson..pronounced himself a match for any French fleet afloat.
1908 Cement World (Cement World Company) 15 June 222/1 There is no use trying to keep afloat in a bath tub.
1942 ‘M. Innes’ Daffodil Affair ii. v. 88 In these matters Hudspith had, after all, a great deal of vicarious experience: more than enough to stock all the smoke-rooms of all the liners afloat.
1989 New York 2 Jan. 21/2 Try..fried oysters afloat in cream.
2008 R. Beard Becoming Drusilla (2009) i. 14 I found myself in the front of a flimsy two-man canoe, the only vessel afloat on the famously treacherous waters of the Bristol Channel.
b. In figurative contexts.hell afloat: see hell n. and int. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1606 J. Marston Parasitaster i. ii. B j What, in the name of prophesie?.. Speake, thou three legd Tripos, is thy shippe of Fooles a flote yet?
1655 J. Howell 4th Vol. Familiar Lett. xxxix. 94 My heart I thank God is still afloat, my spirits shall not sink with the ship.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 29. ⁋10 Whatever is afloat in the stream of time.
1843 C. F. Briggs Bankrupt Stories i. 15 Fictions are..almost the only works that keep afloat on the stream of time.
1962 G. Holmes Later Middle Ages (1966) ii. xi. 211 It is difficult to know..whether he lent money because there was no other way to keep the ship of state afloat.
2003 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 19 Sept. ii. 5/1 Darrin has no choice but to accept the challenge to keep his creditors at bay—and his raft of lies afloat.
c. In attributive use: that is or takes place on the water; that operates at sea.In later use chiefly Navy.
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1859 Hunt's Yachting Mag. Sept. 408 Then followed several boat rowing matches, which ended the afloat sports.
1921 Marine Engin. Dec. 880/2 According to the last annual report of Lloyds Register, the afloat tonnage of the former [sc. oil-burning steamers] in 1921 was ten times that of 1914.
1982 Daily Tel. 15 Dec. 24/4 It will include nuclear-powered submarines, destroyers and frigates, Sea King helicopters, and afloat support.
1992 Marine Engineers Rev. Nov. 39/1 Far larger vessels can be handled alongside quayside complexes for afloat repair work.
2005 F. J. Pushies Night Stalkers 53/2 This was the first time that an aircraft carrier was utilized as an afloat staging base.
2. Aboard a ship or boat as crew, passenger, or cargo; travelling or being transported by water; spec. serving in a navy or fleet. [In quots. lOE and ?a1400 showing on float at float n. 1a in similar use.]
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lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Þa wæron þa utlagas ealle on flote.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 11787 Whan alle were in & was on flote [a1450 Lamb. o flote], maryners dight þam to þer note.]
?1536 R. Copland Hye Way to Spyttell Hous sig. Eiijv Copland. Come ony maryners hyther of Cok lorels bote. Porter. Euery day they be alway a flote.
c1600 in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 633 All..merchandice..a-flot in the sea.
1655 in J. Mennes & J. Smith Musarum Deliciæ 50 So glaz'd the stream, that Pylots then afloat, Thought they might safely land without a Boat.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 530 There are generally several Hundred Loads afloat.
1797 Ld. Nelson 7 Dec. in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) III. 188 Captain Troubridge on shore is superior to Captains afloat.
1838 F. Chamier Jack Adams I. iii. 49 If ever our blessed governors do what is right and go to war, then in course I am afloat next day.
1879 Standard 15 Apr. The quantity [of wheat] afloat is still as much as 1,421,000 qrs.
1909 Forest & Stream 25 Dec. 1024/3 Among trees, wild flowers and scrubs clothed in varicolored blossoms..we seem to forget that we are afloat in a canoe.
1943 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 5 Aug. 4/2 (caption) In lower photo a pilot is seen afloat in a rescue dinghy.
1973 R. Davis Rise Atlantic Economies xiv. 233 In overseas trade, again, capital was largely in stocks of goods afloat in ships, or in warehouses.
2008 J. G. Stavridis Destroyer Captain xi. 17 We evidently will be working under a US Navy chain of command, and I think one of the senior officers afloat down there will be Capt. Mike Mullen, one of my idols.
3. Overflowing, in flood; submerged in water, flooded; brimming with.With figurative context in quot. 1562 cf. sense A. 5.
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1562 J. Heywood Of Mine Acquayntance Certaine Yong Man i. xi, in Wks. sig. Div He was at an ebbe, though he be now a flote, Poore as the poorest.
1563 T. Sackville Induction in Myrrour for Magistrates ii. f. cxviiv Her iyes swollen with flowing streames aflote.
1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus Famous Hyst. ii. f. 74 The riuer Nilus..beginning to swell the eyght day before the kalends of July, and continuing aflote an hundred daies.
1663 S. Pepys Diary 29 Sept. (1893) VI. 272 It fell to thunder, lighten, and rain so violently that my house was all afloat.
1680 N. Lee Theodosius iii. i. f. 24 My Bed was all a-float with the cold drops That mortal Pain wrang from my lab'ring Limbs.
a1739 C. Jarvis tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote (1742) I. viii. 237 He had given the skins so many cuts, that the whole room was afloat with wine.
1745 J. Gay Wks. VI. 256 The meads are all afloat, the haycocks swim.
1794 H. Wansey Jrnl. 30 May in Jrnl. Excursion to U.S. (1796) 83 This is the eighth day of successive rain, all the cellars and underground kitchens in the neighbourhood are afloat.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. x. 299 There was no trouble in wetting them, for the main-deck was afloat.
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 584/1 In another heart-beat the whole..valley was afloat.
a1936 R. Kipling Sel. Poetry (1992) 120 Yet who will note, Till fields afloat, And washen carcass and the returning well, Trumpet what these poor heralds strove to tell.
1983 B. Powe Aberhart Summer 12 Mother came down the basement steps with a fresh pitcher of lemonade afloat with slivers of ice.
2010 Atlantic Monthly Dec. 51/2 But it is also true that the Atlantic is afloat with tar balls, and that detached sections of fishnet and broken filaments of longline drift, ghost-fishing, in all our seas.
4. Suspended or floating in the air or space; buoyed up or spread out in the air, billowing.
ΚΠ
1713 E. Young Poem on Last Day ii. 26 The Trumpet's Sound each vagrant Mote shall hear, Or fixt in Earth, or if afloat in Air.
1746 Gentleman's Mag. June 317 The moisture being then afloat in the air among the corn.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 316 His own hair afloat over it; like a vapour of spun gold.
1855 R. Browning Andrea del Sarto in Men & Women II. 5 Carelessly passing with your robes afloat.
1883 G. Meredith Poems & Lyrics 49 Not the pines with the faint airs afloat, Hush-hushing the nested dove.
1912 C. B. Hayward Building & Flying Aeroplane 16 In starting from this [sc. a gentle slope], it will be found easier to keep the glider afloat.
1955 Life 31 Jan. 108 (caption) Just as Mandalozis snapped the ball snugly into his arms, a photographer snapped his shutter, recording the desperate guardian of the goal afloat in the air and wearing the beatific look of an angel without wings.
2009 Y. Y. Haimes Risk Modeling, Assessment, & Managem. (ed. 3) ii. xvi. 694 There are three critical risk stages of the mission:..(3) long-term possibility of Earth collision in the event that the spacecraft fails to maintain its interplanetary course and stays afloat in space.
II. In figurative and extended senses.
5.
a. Free of debt or financial obligation; able to pay one's debts or one's way; financially secure, solvent.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > solvency > [adjective]
afloat1538
straight1613
solvable1647
solvent1653
solvendoa1684
clear1712
holding company1906
self-financing1913
1538 H. Latimer Let. 24 Dec. in Serm. & Remains (1845) (modernized text) II. 412 Shortly cometh on my half-year's rent; and then I shall be afloat again, and come clean out of debt.
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Four Plays in One in Comedies & Trag. (1647) 47 Take heed now, son, you are afloat again, lest Mundus catch ye.
1784 W. Smith Let. 13 Aug. in G. Washington Papers (1992) Confederation Ser. II. 37 Our Expence is at about £100 pr Week, which occasions..a good Deal of Labor & Care, to keep all afloat.
1810 W. P. Taunton Rep. Court Common Pleas 1 559 The defendant had frequently been bail for Young, and had declared that he was desirous to keep him afloat.
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) Sinkers, bad money—affording a man but little assistance in keeping afloat.
1897 W. A. Ellis tr. R. Wagner Prose Wks. VI. i. 3 A journal can only keep afloat by taking count of the most conflicting interests.
1935 Fortune Aug. 112/2 (caption) Treasurer Hutchinson had a way with bankers when he wrote $11,000,000 of inventory off the books of the shaky Maxwell Co. and then established a $12,000,000 line of credit to keep it afloat.
1971 P. Berton Last Spike viii. iii. 351 As Macdonald himself surely knew, there was no way the railway could stay afloat until 1886 without further funds over and above the subsidy.
2009 Time Out N.Y. 24 Sept. 67/1 Bevacqua..concocted the small-overhead, two-drink business model that would keep the place afloat.
b. Established in a career or in society; able to make one's way in the world or cope with life.
ΚΠ
1810 T. Vaughan Fashionable Follies (ed. 2) III. cccxl. 202 Though their high station, and large fortune, may keep them afloat in the circles of fashion, they are avoided by many.
1875 B. M. Palmer Life & Lett. J. H. Thornwell iii. 27 At length the friends are raised up, who secure to him a complete education, never relaxing their benevolence until he is afloat in life.
1906 H. S. Wilcox Foibles of Bench viii. 72 He strained himself constantly to keep afloat in fashionable society.
1953 E. R. P. Vincent Ugo Foscolo ii. 18 Human benevolence and disinterested altruism are comforting and pleasing ideas to contemplate, but not to a man who after long desperate struggles has failed to keep afloat in the society of his fellows and is about to sink with no help near.
1999 S. Jenner Parent/Child Game (2008) i. 45 If you want your child to be happy and outgoing at school, to have lots of friends, enjoy life and be resilient, first you must give them that bubble of love which will keep them afloat in life.
6. Unfixed, unsettled, adrift; moving without a guide or control. Cf. sea n. 10b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Iijv He makes the younkers, all a flote, to breake the brothells gates.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. v. 374 Now the minds of the French were all afloat with this the conceit of their new Generall.
1726 J. Oldmixon Crit. Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) II. Introd. p. xxxviii His Spirits are all afloat, and one may perceive that he was as much out of his Wits, as he informs us the rest of the Nation was.
1757 R. Symmer in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. IV. ccclxxiii. 403 Affairs are in a manner all afloat.
1783 Ld. Temple Let. 6 Nov. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinet George III (1853) I. 281 The Portugal business is really all afloat; not do Ministry see daylight.
1823 J. Brown Hist. Gallery Criminal Portraitures II. 438 But he was a mere boy as to years,—his passions were all afloat,—and the experienced courtesan noticing his fitness for her purpose, allured him into a free discourse.
1870 Mass. Teacher Nov. 385 They must begin just so always, or they are all afloat.
1900 O. P. Fitzgerald Sunset Views i. 69 I was afloat. My inherited beliefs were under review.
1953 W. Durant Renaissance xxii. 654 Suddenly Leo died, and Aretino was afloat again.
2007 F. Schaeffer Crazy for God (2008) iii. lviii. 362 He was afloat trying to remake himself as someone other than Dr. Schaeffer's son.
7.
a. Current in the world or in society; generally used, available, or known; passed on from one person to another. Cf. abroad adv. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adjective] > general or prevalent
commona1325
generala1393
usual1396
popular?a1425
riveda1513
vulgarc1550
current1563
afloat1571
widespread1582
penny-rife1606
catholic1607
spacious1610
epidemical1614
epidemial1616
epidemic1617
prevailent1623
regnant1623
fashionablea1627
wide-spreading1655
endemical1658
prevalent1658
endemiala1682
obtaining1682
prevailing1682
endemious1684
sterling1696
running1697
(as) common as dirt (also muck)1737
prevailant1794
exoteric1814
endemic1852
widish1864
prolate1882
going1909
1571 E. Grant tr. Plutarch President for Parentes sig. Hii (margin) Lying was neuer more a flote.
a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) Pref. p. xxxviii The many mistakes which are afloat concerning him.
1793 Parl. Reg. 1781–96 XXXV. 13 There were other stories afloat at the same period equally ridiculous.
1820 M. Berry Let. 25 Nov. (1865) III. 267 Very ugly reports are afloat of the movements of the Austrians.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. ii. 36 It is true that strange doctrines were afloat.
1908 I. Osgood Servitude xii. 118 A rumour was afloat that the Americans were decided to alter matters, to demand the return of their countrymen.
1946 H. M. Hyde Mexican Empire i. 16 The history of his past is somewhat obscure, and there are malicious stories afloat which describe him as having some taste for robber life.
1999 D. Haslam Manchester, Eng. ii. 37 There are various opinions afloat as to the extent of female immorality in the mills.
b. Finance. Circulating as negotiable documents, without coming to an actual discharge of liability. (Now somewhat dated.)
ΚΠ
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob of Arcot's Private Debts 38 They have established the debt..because it is mischievous to keep it longer afloat.
1798 T. Jefferson Notes Conversat. with John Adams 15 Feb. in Papers (2003) XXX. 113 We both concurred in ascribing it [sc. the price of labour] chiefly to the floods of bank paper now afloat.
1816 J. Austen Emma I. iv. 57 Whatever money he might come into when his father died,..it is, I dare say, all afloat, all employed in his stock, and so forth. View more context for this quotation
1893 Christian Union 21 Jan. 106/1 During times of over-confidence the banks could keep afloat a vast quantity of money.
1933 L. B. Krueger Hist. Commercial Banking in Wisconsin v. 91 There was yet afloat $301,545 [notes] of banks discredited but yet unsold.
1984 R. Dornbusch & J. A. Frenkel in M. D. Bordo & A. J. Schwartz Retrosp. Classical Gold Standard ii. 266 William Newmarch's estimates show that the average volume of bills afloat..had risen by an astonishing 44 percent to £78.93 million by the first quarter of 1847.
2008 E. H. Brown Web of Debt (2010) iv. xxxi. 290 To keep all this new debt-money afloat required a steady stream of new borrowers.
8. Fully active; roused; operative; existent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > [adjective] > in operation
workfulOE
operant?a1425
operative?a1425
inworking1587
energetical1595
afloat1604
working1609
energetic1629
active1641
energizing1751
energic1786
operating1825
functioning1835
running1842
functionating1884
functional1892
1604 T. Wright Passions of Minde (new ed.) ii. i. 49 While the Passion is afloate.
1720 T. Gordon & J. Trenchard Independent Whig No. 12. 86 They found it necessary to..keep the Peoples Minds busied, and their Passions afloat, with Metaphysical Subtilties and Distinctions.
1769 Oxf. Mag. Feb. 71/1 You'll find, when once my passion is afloat, The soul of Cæsar, in a Petticoat!
1798 T. Jones Memoirs (1951) 10 Keeping my Expectations afloat for some weeks.
1826 W. Scott Woodstock II. x. 252 Since the loss of the battle of Worcester, he had been afloat again, and more active than ever.
1893 Nature Notes (Selborne Soc.) 4 240 The sight of any bird in any cage tends to keep afloat a barbarous traffic—that of the bird-catcher and bird-fancier.
1971 J. Dory in L. Burstein & J. Dory Tricks ii. 40 We need ups and downs, complexities, close scrapes to keep desire afloat, and give us pleasure.
2008 D. Zeller Telephone Sales for Dummies v. xviii. 227 Performing certain habits and practices daily can help you keep an ‘up’ attitude afloat.
B. adv.
I. In literal, physical senses.
1.
a. On or on to the sea or any stretch of water (or other liquid) of sufficient depth to support a body; so as to be floating, as opposed to sinking or being aground; so as to be at sea, as opposed to in dock or in a dockyard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > action or process of floating > [adverb]
afloat?1473
society > travel > travel by water > [adverb] > at, to, or on the sea
afloat?1473
a-sea1858
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [adverb] > at sea
at seaa1400
outc1450
afloat?1473
at the seas1585
by sea1625
offshore1745
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [adjective] > floating (of a vessel)
afloat?1473
fluctuant1605
waterborne1608
sea-borne1840
sea-float1880
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [adverb] > moving freely on surface
afloat?1473
floatingly1660
natantly1847
a-swim1870
OE Battle of Maldon (1942) 41 We willaþ mid þam sceattum us to scype gangan, on flot feran.]
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 190v The Achayens than comen to this lityll boot lyyng on the ground dide so moche that they brought hit a flote on the see.
1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull xiii. f. cccxxiii In whiche shippe..viii. liues were saued bi the water, lifting vp the shippe a flote from the daunger of drowning.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. viii. 112 The first Shippe that euer was set a flote, was vppon the red Sea.
1621 J. Howell Let. 30 May in Epistolae Ho-elianae (1655) I. 41 They can build a compleat Gally in half a day, and put her afloat in perfect Equippage.
1690 E. Warren Geologia (new ed.) xiv. 288 Those Rain-waters might set it [sc. the Ark] a-float, and so prevent its ruinous Fall.
1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 93 The Report which I made to my Lord..for rendring the same [harbour] practicable for large Ships to go in and out, and to lie always afloat with their Lading, I have hereafter transcribed.
1824 V. M. Golovnin Mem. Captivity in Japan (ed. 2) II. i. 34 It was so far from the water that we despaired of getting it afloat.
1851 A. Helps Friends in Council I. 27 Send them afloat in the wide sea of humanity.
1902 J. Conrad Typhoon ii. 10 When she lay afloat, finished in every detail..the builders contemplated her with pride.
1937 C. N. Parkinson Trade in Eastern Seas viii. 227 A ship, on coming afloat, would still be in the hands of carpenters and riggers and watchmen.
2011 C. I. Hamilton Making Mod. Admiralty iii. 91 The navy was..above all trying to ensure that when an emergency arose a substantial steam force could soon be sent afloat.
b. In figurative contexts.
ΚΠ
1593 B. Barnes Parthenophil & Parthenophe 26 More then blessed was I if one tyding Of fœmal fauour set mine hart afloate.
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all ii. 22 You have so little Brains, that a Penn'orth of Butter melted under 'um would set 'um afloat.
1787 D. Humphreys Let. 1 Sept. in A. Hamilton Papers (1962) IV. 242 Should that happen our political Ship will be left afloat on a Sea of Chance, without a Rudder as well as without a Pilot.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. ix. x. 465 Hold your hand..exclaimed I... You must not set my avarice afloat again.
1989 J. James Template-makers of Paris Basin viii. 159/1 In the latter the hollows were themselves frames to the rose, detaching it from the wall and setting it afloat within the void of the window.
2. In or into a state of overflow or submersion; in or into flood; so as to flood or be flooded; so as to brim (esp. with tears). (Earlier in sense A. 3.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being submerged or action of submerging > [adverb]
afloat1591
sub-aqua1830
under1830
1591 E. Spenser tr. J. du Bellay Visions ix, in Complaints sig. Y4 Whose out gushing flood Ran bathing all the creakie shore aflot.
c1595 R. Southwell St. Peter's Complaint 23 Feares, not effects, did set a-floate thine eyes.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia iii. 76 Thus lies this place afloat, and the Rains and Thunder are violent enough to convince the incredulous of a possibility of a General Deluge.
1728 N. Salmon New Surv. Eng.: Pt. III 283 It overflows, and lays the Meadows afloat in April, like another Nile.
1795 Orig. & Select Evangelical Serm. xviii. 222 The heart being unable to support it, it bursts open the flood gates of weeping, and sets the eyes afloat in tears.
1832 R. Brindley Compend. Naval Archit. 137 The water rushes in, setting the decks afloat, to prevent which these plugs are often driven in.
1898 M. L. Todd Corona & Coronet xxiv. 243 The floods which had set all the rice-fields afloat around Nara and Osaka were widely extending.
1999 M. Regan Immortality News ii. 28 Lucia Connerly had aimed for nonchalance, but the mention of lifetime set her eyes afloat.
3. On or on to a ship or boat as crew, passenger, or cargo; on board ship; spec. in a navy or fleet, in naval service. Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval service > [adverb]
afloat1749
1661 Thracian Wonder i. i. sig. B2 Huswife, as for you, You with your Brat, wee'l send afloat the Main, There to be left, never to Land again.]
1749 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 136/1 The army began to march on August 8, with whom Mr Boscawen went himself, and left the management afloat to Capt. Lisle of the Vigilant.
1757 Herald No. 13. 77 Now Sicily wheat seldom is at a price above seventy-two taries per Salme, shipped free aboard: which is about equal to seven and twenty shillings a quarter for English, put afloat, with the bounty to the shipper.
1788 European Mag. Feb. 141/2 After this they went afloat, and the whole fleet..immediately manned ship and saluted with 21 guns each.
1831 B. Hall Fragm. Voy. & Trav. I. iii. 73 I had..from the first day I went afloat—a great horror at being reproached, or ‘wigged’, as we called it.
1848 N. Amer. Rev. Mar. 303/1 We are set afloat on a sea of confusion.
1893 Rep. Cases Supreme Court New Brunswick XXX. 245 The defendant sent one Corey to count the logs with plaintiff as they were put afloat.
1937 Pop. Mech. Aug. 3/2 The delights of living afloat in a modern cruising motorboat.
1995 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Oct. 31/4 Weaver's translation is a xenoglot adventure; you find yourself blissfully at sea, afloat on an ocean of story.
2010 M. D. Bosc Soldier's Wind 204 How many of you have served afloat? Sir! Came three responses.
4. In or into a state of suspension or floating motion in the air or in space; so as to be buoyed up or spread out in the air, so as to billow. (Earlier in sense A. 4.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > motion in the air > [adverb]
afloat1768
a-wing1827
volantly1876
1768 Crit. Rev. Jan. 71 Deeds have we done of dire and dreadful note, And charms on liquid air have sent afloat.
1840 T. Chalmers Lect. Epist. Paul to Romans III. lii. 31 You set afloat through the air those refreshing currents, by which its purity is upholden.
a1913 ‘Aliph Cheem’ in E. A. Helps Songs & Ballads Greater Brit. (1913) 341 And afloat on the breeze Streamed the swelling expanse of the glorious old flag, Which English affection and slang call ‘the Rag’.
1977 R. von B. Rucker Geom., Relativity, & Fourth Dimension vi. 98 Build an indestructible radio beacon and set it afloat in space near the Earth.
2009 J. Dashner Maze Runner xxi. 136 It was like somebody had built the Maze and then set it afloat in the sky to hover there in the middle of nothing for the rest of eternity.
II. In figurative and extended senses. Chiefly in to set afloat.
5.
a. In or into full activity; so as to be roused. Now rare (but cf. sense A. 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > in operation [phrase] > in full operation
afloat?1548
in (full) play1669
in full swing1703
at full swarth1713
in blast, at or in full blast1780
in (also at) full riot1848
?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature iii. sig. Cvv In loues cause to fyght, ye maye sone haue me a floate.
1566 J. Studley tr. Seneca Agamemnon ii. ii. Cvi Why setst thou me a flote? Why kyndlest thou the sparkes of ire in imbers covered hote?
1615 J. Day Festivals 100 They were full of new Wine, & the new Wine venting out, the Tongues of all Nations were immediatly set a float.
1653 H. More Conjectura Cabbalistica 67 All the Faculties of Life should be set a float.
1728 Mem. Eng. Officer 91 Yet all these Difficulties, instead of discouraging the Earl, set every Faculty of his more afloat.
1782 W. W. Grenville Let. 2 Dec. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinets George III (1853) I. 75 It must have set you very much afloat, particularly with the lawyers who are interested in the question.
1824 Lit. Magnet 2 72 Rousseau was no better at table-talk than La Fontaine, unless literature were the topic, or some interesting argument set his faculties afloat.
1876 S. M. Holworthy Scylla & Charybdis v. 36 Hast thou no friend to set thy mind afloat, Good sense will stagnate.
b. In or into operation; so as to start proceeding or functioning.
ΚΠ
1782 Parl. Reg. 1781–96 V. 405 Very probably the expositions of the House would be turned towards him, as chairman of the committee, to set these proceedings afloat.
1808 W. L. Van-Ess Life Napoleon Buonaparte (ed. 4) I. xix. 305 This would be impossible, if the inquiry proposed by the Committee were to be set afloat.
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vii. iii. 351 One of the most successful periodical publications ever set afloat.
1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur (1887) iv. xvi. 390 It was agreed that..public inquiry should be set afloat for the discovery of the whereabouts of the son of Arrius.
1911 Friend Jan. 239/2 W. W. Davidson set afloat a scheme for building a meeting-house near the school.
1990 H. Singh in R. Kumar Probl. of Communalism in India iii. 26 Along with these reformist movements, a nationalist movement comprising of all communities, castes and creeds was set afloat in 1885 under the name of the Indian National Congress.
2004 A. K. Foster Moral Visions & Material Ambitions i. 27 The radical Whigs won a majority at the July convention and set afloat a daring republican experiment based on popular rule.
6. (a) In or into financial security or solvency; in or into a position of being able to pay one's debts or one's way; (b) in or into a career or continuing mode of existence; so as to make a way in the world. Now rare (but cf. sense A. 5).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > [adjective] > founding or instituting > settled or established
rootfastlOE
stablec1290
institutec1325
sad1340
firmc1374
rooteda1393
stabledc1400
substantialc1449
well-foundeda1450
surec1475
standing1549
afloat1551
well-established1559
steadyc1571
naturalized1590
erected1603
established1642
instituted1647
settled1649
riveted1652
radicate1656
inrooted1660
institute1668
statuminated1674
planted1685
stablished1709
deep-seated1741
founded1771
set-up1856
society > occupation and work > working > career > [adjective] > established
standing1457
afloat1656
settled1774
?1499 J. Skelton Bowge of Courte (de Worde) sig. Bvv His purse is not on flote.]
1551 R. Crowley Philargyrie sig. Aviiv All that be Kynne vnto the Be it neuer so small I wyll promote And set aflote.
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Cade xi. 1 Fortune setting us a flote.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxxx. sig. Fv Your shallowest helpe will hold me vp a floate . View more context for this quotation
1656 W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Mary & James VI i. 81 This Success set Morton aflote.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1734) VI. Concl. 1273 Not content with educating their children well, and with such a competency as may set them afloat in the world.
1747 R. Campbell London Tradesman xlv. 228 A Youth may be set a-float in the World as soon as he has got a Trade in his Head, without much Danger of Spoiling.
1781 S. Shaw Let. 13 May in Jrnls. (1847) 91 I am well aware that this expedition will be attended with some expense; but, as it is only for once, and will be fairly setting him afloat in the world, where he can in future take care of himself, it will not be an extravagant bargain.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel (1831) I. Notes 285 The guests who convened, contributed considerable sums..to set the married folk afloat in the world.
1896 C. W. Dabney Old College & New 13 This poor school boy is set afloat in life without ambition, except to get money, and too often without character.
7.
a. In or into currency in the world or in society; in or into general use, availability, knowledge, or circulation; so as to be passed on from one person to another.
ΚΠ
?1570 T. Drant Two Serm. i. sig. Diiv Our Erasmus set Latin a flote.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 370 The fire of sedition, which setteth a floate all kind of impietie.
1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon Pref. sig. A3v That Doctor, who in a late equivocating Treatise plausibly set afloat against the Dippers,..mentions with ignominy the Tractate of Divorce.
1698 C. Davenant Disc. Publick Revenues I. ii. 40 He will be willing to help Others, and call upon the Assistance of his Neighbours, which of course, by degrees, must set Credit again afloat.
1703 Hist. & Polit. Mercury May 127 And therefore the new tapping of these Errors set the following Bull afloat. Clement XI. Pope. [etc.].
1750 Grand Mag. Oct. 214/2 Every petty politician can set new passions and affections afloat in the minds of the people.
1784 Parl. Reg. 1781–96 XV. 250 The subject could not be touched, without at the same time..setting opinions afloat that ought not to be hazarded or delivered without good foundation.
1800 R. Hill Daubenism Confuted 20 Not a word of the sort was dropt by me; (nor indeed have you directly accused me of it, though what you said has set such an idea afloat).
1839 Roman Lovers xv. 65 I can easily believe it is Lucia who sets this idea afloat, and then repeats it as the words of others.
1919 A. Ransome Russia in 1919 186 Books that were out of print and unobtainable..have been reprinted from the stereotypes and set afloat again at most reasonable prices.
1967 J. Robinson in K. Martin & J. Knapp Teaching of Devel. Econ. ii. 150 It was Mahalanobis who put afloat a version of the Harrod formula in terms of the share of investment in national income, the capital-output ratio and the rate of growth.
2006 P. P. Singh Hist. Sikh Gurus i. 6 Many types of rumours were set afloat.
b. Finance. In or into circulation as negotiable documents, without coming to an actual discharge of liability. (Earlier in sense A. 7b.) (Now somewhat dated.)
ΚΠ
1797 in Coll. State Papers War against France (1798) VI. 171 It will also be necessary..to set the public debt afloat by creating bons [sic], by the aid of which payment of national debts may be made.
1804 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 25 Feb. 281 It is alleged even that the capital of the bankers bear but a very slight proportion to the amount of the paper that they have afloat.
1841 G. Combe Notes U.S. (2010) 48 New banks sprang up almost in every village, and sent paper afloat.
1885 G. Rae Country Banker xxxiii. 240 Bills might be set afloat to an amount, not merely equal to, but largely in excess of their combined stocks in trade.
1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny xviii. 249 He needs a campaign manager..to get the boys in line and the new two-dollar bills afloat.
1986 I. H. Sprague Bailout iii. vi. 113 It had set afloat more than four times its asset base..on other banks' books.
8. In or into an unfixed or unsettled state, adrift; without a guide or control. (Earlier in sense A. 6.)
ΚΠ
1612 T. James Jesuits Downefall 6 The only thing they long for, is to bring al a flote in fire and sword.
1680 M. Livingstone Albion's Elegie 6 In a trice Excluded from this Eden, all Afloat We're left.
1714 T. Ellwood Hist. Life (1765) 291 Applause setting his Head afloat.
1780 G. Washington Let. 6 Aug. in Mem. G. W. P. Custis (1859) App. I. 567 It must..have set our money afloat again, when every measure which human policy is capable of devising ought to be adopted to give it a fixed and permanent value.
1811 W. Johnson Rep. Supreme Court N.-Y. 6 423 If we depart from this plain standard of interpretation, we set everything afloat, and our constitution becomes a mass of unintelligible matter.
1820 Edinb. Encycl. (1830) XIV. 698/1 His mind might be set afloat without a single light to direct him.
1902 J. Burroughs Literary Values iv. 92 The crying want always is for new, fresh power to break up the old verdicts and opinions, and set all afloat again.
1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man xi. 107 Sole of the feet warming deliciously and the brown gargle as they say was putting the mind afloat.
1986 R. Kirk Conservative Mind (2001) vii. 247 This is fatal to democracy, for it stimulates insubordination and disorder, setting everything afloat, and that moral solidarity which makes possible so delicate a government as democracy is broken.
2010 P. Boradkar Designing Things viii. 243 Their meanings are not determined by a specific relation to price or any other attribute; they are detached from the object and set afloat, to be determined in context.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.OE