raftn.¹

Brit.

/rɑːft/,

/raft/, U.S.

/ræft/

Forms:

α. Middle English reft, late Middle English rafft, late Middle English–1600s rafte, 1500s– raft.

β. late Middle English–1600s raff, 1500s–1600s raffe; Scottish pre-1700 raff, pre-1700 raiff.

Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian.

Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic raptr rafter, (plural) roof, ceiling (Icelandic raftur , †rapti beam, rafter, stake, post), Norwegian raft beam, rafter, stake, pole, Swedish (now chiefly regional) raft , rafta , rafte beam, rafter (first half of the 16th cent.), Old Danish rafft , raft , rafte stick, beam, especially rod for taking measurements (Danish raft , rafte slender pole, especially thin stem from which the bark has been removed, (in technical use also) rafter)), probably < the Indo-European base of classical Latin rēpere to creep (see repent adj.²), Old Church Slavonic rěpije thistles collectively (translating Hellenistic Greek τρίβολος thistle (Matthew 7:16), specific use of ancient Greek τρίβολος denoting various prickly plants), Lithuanian rėplinti , rėplioti to crawl, creep. The later semantic development is apparently peculiar to English, as sense 2 and later senses are unparalleled in other Germanic languages. Compare earlier rafter n.¹ and later raff n.²The β. forms are probably either influenced by, or show the same development as, raff n.²

1. A beam, a spar; a rafter. Scottish in later use. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records this sense as still in use in Selkirkshire in 1967, but marks it as obsolescent.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > in form of bar, pole, rod, etc.

stingc725

stakec893

sowelc900

tree971

rungOE

shaftc1000

staffc1000

stockc1000

poleOE

spritOE

luga1250

lever1297

stanga1300

perchc1300

raftc1330

sheltbeam1336

stower1371

palea1382

spar1388

spire1392

perk1396

ragged staff1397

peela1400

slot1399

plantc1400

heck-stower1401

sparkin1408

cammockc1425

sallow stakec1440

spoke1467

perk treec1480

yard1480

bode1483

spit1485

bolm1513

gada1535

ruttock1542

stob1550

blade1558

wattle1570

bamboo1598

loggat1600

barling1611

sparret1632

picket1687

tringle1706

sprund1736

lug-pole1773

polting lug1789

baton1801

stuckin1809

rack-pin1821

picket-pin1844

I-iron1874

pricker1875

stag1881

podger1888

window pole1888

verge1897

sallow pole1898

lat1899

swizzle-stick1962

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > rafter

raftereOE

raft1820

c1330 (?c1300) Reinbrun (Auch.) in J. Zupitza Guy of Warwick (1891) 657 (MED) Þe reftes al cipres be.

a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 20398 (MED) Maystres off dyvers crafftys Hang out, on polys and on rafftys, Dyuers sygnys.

c1475 (?c1425) Avowing of King Arthur (1984) l. 383 Aythir gripus a schafte Was als rude as a rafte.

1574 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 386 [He] hes takin doun certane houssis..and cariit away the tymber and raftis thairof.

1650 tr. J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Reserata xli. §446 Especially, if it [sc. a barrel] bee laid upon stalls [margin Rafts, tressels] somwhat high.

1656 W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Mary & James VI 493 The Pyrates had boomed up the Moles with Masts and Raffs, and set a double Guard upon all their Ships.

1745 F. Blomefield Ess. Topogr. Hist. Norfolk II. 148 Raftermen, those that deal in Rafts or Timber Pieces.

1761 in Trans. Dumfriesshire & Galloway Nat. Hist. & Antiquarian Soc. (1929) (modernized text) 15 37 William Simpson in Tarkirra cut an ash stick in his own possession for supporting one of his houses which would rive to be a pair of rafts or better.

1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 8 147 The roof wags its remotest raft.

1854 S. T. Dobell Balder xxviii. 198 Like a Temple wherein cost Is absolute, dark beam and hidden raft Shittim.

1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 18 An' dan de rafts teuk fire an' de couples teuk fire.

1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 245 Raft, a rafter.

2. A number of logs, planks, etc., fastened together in the water for transportation by floating. Now chiefly in North American contexts (esp. in the logging industry).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > vessels of primitive construction > [noun] > raft > mass of logs, etc., floated for transport

raft1497

1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 249 Cariage of certeyn mastes to the Watyrsyde and ther to be made in a Raff & so to be conveyed to Portesmouth.

1560 Bible (Geneva) ii. Chron. ii. 16 We wil cut wood in Lebanon as much as thou shalt nede, and wil bring it to thee in raftes by the sea to Iapho, so thou maiest cary them to Ierusalem.

1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xviii. §2. 497 Hiram caused his seruants to bring downe the Cedars and Firres from Libanon to the sea, and thence sent them in raffes to Ioppe.

1685 in New-Eng. Hist. & Geneal. Reg. (1882) 36 396 By one Raft of boards qt 12500 ft.

1713 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1906) XLII. 348 [They were] bound up to Salem with a raft of timber or pieces for Masts.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 119 [Crocodiles] lying as close to each other, as a raft of timber upon one of our streams.

1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Dean At proper seasons, large rafts of trees are constructed, and floated to the sea.

1863 W. F. Campbell & J. F. Campbell Life in Normandy II. 80 [They] work the rafts of timber and floats of tar barrels down the great rivers to the Gulf of Bothnia.

1912 J. Sandilands Western Canad. Dict. & Phrase-bk. at Raft Rafts on Canadian waterways are sometimes of enormous size.

c1950 R. Haig-Brown in V. Haig-Brown Woods & River Tales (1980) xii. 121 He was a very good boom-man, skilful in sorting logs and building them into a safe raft for towing.

2004 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 9 Feb. a1 Rafting dogs—pointed eyelets hammered into logs so they could be lashed into rafts.

a. A flat, buoyant structure of timber or other materials fastened together, used as a boat or floating platform.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > vessels of primitive construction > [noun] > raft

float1535

raft1581

float-boat1600

α.

1589 J. Eldred in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 233 They bring these victuals and diuers sorts of marchandises vpon rafts borne vpon goats skins blowen vp ful of wind in maner of bladders.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 356 Where is that sonne That floated with thee on the fatall rafte .

1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures lxvi. 267 Before it was day they had made a raft of such planks and beams as came to their hands.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 65 This Raft was so unweildy, and so overloaden, that..it overset.

1790 R. Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. II. 354 The building of a large raft, or radeau, to carry some heavy artillery.

1823 M. Graham Jrnl. 10 Jan. in Captain's Wife (1993) 145 Sailors fitting spars across the light logs, called balsas, to make a raft to ship the goods with.

1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene II. i. 13 There were plenty of planks on the deck, and if it were daylight I could tie them together and make a raft, which would bear me up.

a1918 G. Stuart 40 Years on Frontier (1925) II. 17 The boats..were little better than rafts.

1956 Times 22 Aug. 8/4 The raft of rough-hewn red cedar logs..on which three Frenchmen from Canada have drifted across the Atlantic..was towed into Falmouth harbour to-day.

2000 A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) x. 121 Each raft bore a tall mast and a pole with a handful of grass affixed to the top, an offering to the river's nats.

β. 1581 T. Nicholas tr. A. de Zárate Discov. & Conquest Peru vi. sig. C iii The raffe is made like an open hand, euen as one finger is longer then another: And on the toppe are plankes layde to kepe soldiers or passengers from wetting.1588 T. Hickock tr. C. Federici Voy. & Trauaile f. 2 Certaine Zattares or Raffes made of blowne hides or skins... These Raffes are bound fast together.1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 185 Making a little boat, or rather as some suppose a raffe.1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia iv. 144 Now these huge Raffes with speed they load.

b. In extended use and figurative: a thing which floats, appears to float, or gives support in the manner of a raft.

ΚΠ

1722 R. Blackmore Redemption 363 Praise him, ye winds, that ventilate the air, Shove floating rafts of clouds, and vig'rous bear Black furnaces.

1774 H. Home Sketches Hist. of Man II. i. vii. 108 Upon the raft of clouds I'd ride, Which unto Orra fly.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Homer's Hymn to Mercury xiii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 299 For each foot he wrought a kind of raft Of tamarisk.

1863 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 447 Ames, by report of Waldo Emerson, expressed the popular security wisely, saying..‘a republic is a raft, which would never sink, but then your feet are always in the water.’

1940 L. MacNeice Last Ditch 19 All the leaves are waves And the top of Primrose Hill A raft on stormy seas.

1955 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 91/1 To prolong the life of a corsage spray float it in a saucer of water, making a small ‘raft’ of white paper and resting the head of the flower on it.

1995 H. Hamilton Love Test 151 All became precious rafts of reality.

c. Originally and chiefly Military = raft bridge n. at Compounds 2. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > bridge > constructed of boats, rafts, or pontoons

pontoon1590

ship-bridge1663

flying bridge1675

float-bridge1692

pont volant1710

raft bridge1733

pontoon bridge1757

raft1761

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > floating bridge

bridge of boatsa1387

pontoon1590

boat bridge1598

ship-bridge1663

flying bridge1675

float-bridge1692

floating bridge1706

raft bridge1733

pontoon bridge1757

raft1761

1761 J. Otway tr. L. Turpin de Crissé Ess. Art of War I. ii. x. 254 A general can make use of rafts, or flying bridges.

1794 tr. P. N. Chantreau Philos., Polit., & Lit. Trav. Russia II. xix. 271 We crossed the Moscowa, upon a sort of raft, or boat fixed to the two banks. The Russians call these rafts, Moving bridges.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. viii. 128 Be ready to thrust the raft endlong over the moat whenever the postern on our side is thrown open.

1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 322/1 Good rafts can be made of casks or barrels, and form a better bridge than baulks of timber.

1972 Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 62 95/1 Where the stream was too broad for the beam principle, the Incas and their Indian successors used other means, the least common of which were pontoon bridges and rafts.

d. A small craft (now typically a shallow, inflatable boat) designed for use in an emergency at sea; a life raft. In later use also: a similar boat used recreationally.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > lifeboat or raft

boatlOE

lifeboat1797

safety boat1814

life raft1819

life craft1844

raft1849

redningskoite1906

Carley float1915

crash boat1936

1849 Times 30 Mar. 3/3 The contrivance of a simple raft for saving a ship's crew and transporting them to the shore.

1944 Stars & Stripes (London ed.) 1 May 3 Three others treaded water for three hours before succeeding in blowing up another raft by lung power.

1988 P. Wayburn Adventuring in Alaska (rev. ed.) iii. 245 Canoes, kayaks, and rafts are all suitable, although there are stretches of class III and class IV water.

1991 Salt Water Sportsman Feb. 26/1 The basic emergency kit contains..a knife for cutting the raft's painter line, a sea anchor..,raft-repair kit..and a bailer.

2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 Jan. iii. 12/6 The raft flipped, and I zoomed downwater through a long gorge with one rapid after the other.

a. Originally U.S. A dense flock of floating ducks, or of other aquatic birds or mammals.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > by habitat > [noun] > aquatic animal > group of

raft1709

the world > animals > birds > defined by habitat > [noun] > aquatic or swimming bird > flock of

bunch1622

raft1709

sail1727

knob1816

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > group of

badlinga1450

teamc1450

raft1709

1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 150 Raft-Fowl includes all the sorts of small Ducks and Teal, that go in Rafts along the Shoar.

1848 W. E. Burton Waggeries & Vagaries 70 We've shoals of shad, hull rafts of canvass-back ducks, and no end of terrapins.

1872 Fur, Fin & Feather 26 The great collections [of ducks] are termed rafts.

1936 Condor 38 14 Surf Scoter. One raft of these ducks in high plumage was seen at Point Mugu on July 15.

1975 Country Life 16 Jan. 132/3 A tiny band of sea otters..had grown to a raft of 130.

1988 E. Wood et al. Sea Life Brit. & Ireland 31 Large ‘rafts’ of guillemots, razorbills and puffins can be found far from land in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

1999 Wildlife News Sept. 8/4 The expanse of open water is likely to hold rafts of pochard, tufted duck, [etc.].

b. Originally U.S. A large mass of material, such as vegetation, ice, etc., floating on the surface of a body of water. Cf. ice raft n. at ice n. Compounds 8.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > an accumulation > floating

raft1772

1772 B. Romans in P. L. Phillips Notes B. Romans 122 I Could not Proceed any farther not being provided with any Tools, to Clear the River, of the Rafts a little higher up.

1802 A. Ellicott Jrnl. (1803) 189 The upper raft is of considerable magnitude, and covered with grass and other herbage, with some bushes.

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vii. 83 The descending ice..lodged, and formed a great, undulating raft, filling up the whole river.

1918 H. E. Gregory Mil. Geol. & Topogr. iv. 97 The floating raft of vegetation, rising and falling with fluctuations in the water level, may overlie clear water or soft ooze.

1979 D. Attenborough Life on Earth (1981) i. 13 Maybe..birds and reptiles from continental South America had reached the Galapagos, ferried on the rafts of vegetation that float down the rivers and out to sea.

1987 New Yorker 23 Feb. 55/2 In the Red River, he undertook to disassemble a ‘raft’—uprooted trees by the tens of thousands that were stopping navigation for a hundred and sixty miles.

1990 M. Armstrong Agviq x. 138 A storm surge pushed great rafts of ice—old ice, sea ice—up over the new ice, the ice merging.

c. In specific technical uses: a relatively flat mass or accumulation of something floating in or on the surface of a fluid; esp. a connected mass of floating insect or fish eggs.

ΚΠ

1927 Observer 18 Sept. 8 The egg-raft is laid by the many species of that group of mosquitoes..represented by our common gnat.

1952 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 108 2 Deep-seated convection currents in an imagined sima have been postulated by some..and drifting of continental rafts has seemed more attractive to others.

1959 A. C. Hardy Open Sea II. x. 196 The spawn of the angler is most remarkable; a million eggs or so are laid in a great mucus raft which measures two or three feet across and up to twenty or thirty feet in length.

1989 Nature 23 Mar. 293/1 The issue is the evolution in time, by coalescence and other means, of a raft of soap bubbles.

2004 Science 23 Jan. 435/4 Lipid rafts..are membrane microdomains where cholesterol is tightly packed with saturated phospholipids in a highly ordered state.

d. Cookery (originally U.S.). A mass that forms on the surface of a consommé or stock that flavours and clarifies it, typically consisting of meat, vegetables, and egg whites.

ΚΠ

1962 Professional Chef 248 The chemical action of these three ingredients [for clarifying stock] causes a coagulation of the egg white and meat protein.., separating it from the remaining liquid... This coagulation or floating mass is called a raft.

1984 B. Clayton Compl. Bk. Soups & Stews 59 Lean muscle meat, egg whites and vegetables..are cooked together in a stock pot until they congeal to form a raft.

1992 Sydney Morning Herald 28 Nov. (Good Weekend Mag.) 75/4 Leave undisturbed for an hour until a crust (‘raft’) has formed. Carefully remove the crust and ladle the consommé through a double layer of wet muslin.

2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 116 The Room prep area always had three gigantic steam kettles filled with a dark, all-purpose stock, simmering endlessly under a ‘raft’ of ground beef, meat scraps, chicken bones, turkey carcasses, the trimmings of vegetables, carrot peelings and egg shells.

a. Building. A layer of reinforced concrete forming the foundation of a building.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > foundations

groundc950

ground-wallc1000

fundamentc1300

foundation1398

sole1417

paepae1846

raft1891

raft foundation1895

1886 Times 20 Aug. 13/1 On this a raft of oak planks several inches thick was laid crossing in double layer, and on this were deposited masses of squared stone up to the wall bases.]

1891 Harper's Mag. Aug. 396/2 These towering and massive structures ultimately rest upon a quagmire... It is managed in the heaviest buildings by floating them upon a raft of concrete and railroad iron spread a few feet below the surface.

1936 Concrete & Constructional Engin. 31 423 There are a great many districts where rafts are the best and often the only solution to foundation problems.

1978 Daily Tel. 12 May 19/3 All the floors in the houses are dropping out because they were built on a concrete raft. The raft is now sinking into the peat below.

1995 Vancouver Sun 2 Oct. b2/6 To guard against this [sc. damage from earthquakes], the Annacis project is being built on a ‘raft’ of one-metre thick reinforced concrete.

b. Archaeology. A layer of stones, rubble, timber, etc., supporting a structure.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [noun] > archaeology > built structures > parts of

raft1897

porthole1928

1897 B. C. A. Windle Life Early Britain iv. 76 The work [of constructing a crannock] was thus carried out: (1) Immediately over the chosen site a circular raft of trunks of trees, laid above branches and brushwood, was formed [etc.].

1928 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 18 198 The first-century clay rampart here rests on a very well-preserved raft of oak beams.

1964 Medieval Archaeol. 8 250 Large blocks of chalk, forming a ‘raft’ on which the chancels were constructed.

1998 P. Rahtz & L. Watts Kirkdale Archaeol. 1996–1997 12 On the north side of the tower..the underlying material was a massive rubble raft extending down to the natural clay.

6. U.S. slang. In the language of short-order cooks: a piece of toast, as served with eggs (chiefly in Adam and Eve on a raft: see Adam and Eve n. 5). Also: a piece of bread used as the base of any dish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > bread dish > [noun]

pain1706

raft1894

1894 North-eastern Daily Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 15 Oct. One day he ordered poached eggs on toast. Going to the slide the waiter yelled out: ‘Adam and Eve on a raft.’

1899 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 17 July 5/3 An order for eggs on toast went to the kitchen as, ‘Adam and Eve on a raft’, but if after giving this order the customer wanted the eggs plain, the countermand went out as, ‘Save Adam and Eve; sink the raft.’

1915 Dallas Morning News 28 Mar. 4 ‘Poached eggs on toast,’ says the customer... ‘Bride and groom on a raft in the middle of the ocean!’ shouts the waiter.

1935 H. Carr Los Angeles 265 Mac, stack and a shorty brown and heavy on the goo; two on a raft and double it.

1986 S. Tsuji & K. Hata Practical Japanese Cooking 17/3 Remove the crusts from the bread... Deep-fry the rafts until bread is golden brown... Arrange a shrimp raft and a sardine raft on each plate.

2003 Dinner's On 14 Eggs and Asparagus on a Raft... Gently lift eggs from water and place 1 on each muffin half.

Compounds

C1.

† raft-chain n. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1823 Edinb. Advertiser 21 Oct. 1/1 (advt.) A large Beam and Scales, one ton weight; a Raft Chain, Grate, Fender and Irons, with other Articles.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 559 There are also dog-hooks..by which the raft-chains are secured.

raft log n.

ΚΠ

1753 G. Washington Jrnl. in Writings (1889) I. 38 I fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the Raft Logs.

1898 Bot. Gaz. 25 58 Since then..the plant has not come to my notice, until it turned up again in the autumn of 1895 on raft-logs in our lake.

2002 Owen Sound (Ont.) Sun Times (Nexis) 10 Aug. a1 (caption) Sawyer Jack Allen with the end of a 190-year-old raft log.

raftman n.

ΚΠ

1776 C. Carroll Jrnl. 16 Apr. (1845) 47 Each one is marked, so that the raft-men..may easily know their own rafts.

1847 C. Lanman Summer in Wilderness xviii. 111 The principal anglers for this fish are steamboat hands and raftmen.

1903 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 228/1 The figures of the raftmen seem to walk magically on the water.

2005 PNG Post-Courier (Nexis) 28 Jan. 21 The master raftman was back, back on his river.

raftmaster n.

ΚΠ

1828 J. R. Planché Desc. Danube 56 The Raft-masters of Munich.

2003 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 8 Aug. 8 ‘It gives no guarantee that one would enjoy more rapids during the dry season as some are best taken with swollen water,’ says raftmaster Zaidi.

raft race n.

ΚΠ

1908 Orange County (N.Y.) Times 30 June 8/4 (advt.) Raft race, in and out for a prize.

2003 K. Brooks Lucas (2004) v. 113 The charity raft race starts at the boatyard and follows a series of buoys around the bay.

raft tug n.

ΚΠ

1868 Dubuque (Iowa) Daily Herald 29 Sept. The Iowa City, a raft tug, arrived from below and lay at the levee taking supplies aboard.

1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 5 Nov. Raft tugs are in demand to bring more logs down.

1981 BBC Summary of World Broadcasts (Nexis) 2 July The Hungarian shipyard and crane enterprise concluded a contract..for the construction of 16 t river and 25 t seagoing floating cranes, pusher boats and raft tugs for use in Siberian waters.

raft voyage n.

ΚΠ

1867 Sci. Amer. 18 May 324/2 (heading) A raft voyage to Europe.

1947 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 2 Nov. 13/1 The younger generation evidently was more interested in the raft voyage and the fish we had caught at sea.

2005 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 27 Jan. 8 There have been 43 raft voyages since the Kon-Tiki in 1947 and only one person has died.

raft work n.

ΚΠ

1767 Christian's Mag. 7 109/2 They had built a kind of stragling town, had plenty of brick and raft work, and intended to remain till the return of the French fleet.

1892 ‘B. Hinton’ Lord's Return 200 Liking best the raft-work on the Hudson.

1995 C. D. Totman Lumber Industry Early Mod. Japan iii. 54 On such major logging rivers as the Tenryū, Kiso, and Ōi near Kyoto, there were official opening and closing dates for raft work.

C2.

raft-breasted adj. Ornithology (now rare) (of a bird) having no keel to the sternum; ratite.

ΚΠ

1890 Cent. Dict. Raft-breasted, ratite.

1891 Geol. Mag. 8 379 These Ratite, or raft-breasted flightless birds, have been found in a fossil state in England, France, India, Madagascar, New Zealand, Australia, and America.

1964 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell Text-bk. Zool. (ed. 7) II. 606 Several flying birds in specialised habitats have lost the carinate condition, and become raft-breasted in varying degree along with the abandonment of flying.

raft bridge n. originally Military a floating bridge made of a raft, or supported by rafts (cf. sense 3c).

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > bridge > constructed of boats, rafts, or pontoons

pontoon1590

ship-bridge1663

flying bridge1675

float-bridge1692

pont volant1710

raft bridge1733

pontoon bridge1757

raft1761

society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > floating bridge

bridge of boatsa1387

pontoon1590

boat bridge1598

ship-bridge1663

flying bridge1675

float-bridge1692

floating bridge1706

raft bridge1733

pontoon bridge1757

raft1761

1733 W. Proctor Jrnl. Polish Majesty's Camp of Radewitz 44 Above was the Tun-Bridge, still higher the Raft-Bridge.

1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 121 When plenty of heavy timber can be procured, a raft-bridge may be made.

1922 Times 27 Dec. 12/1 Raft bridge across the Swale.

2005 Ashville (N. Carolina) Citizen-Times (Nexis) 1 Apr. 4 b Teams were required to cross the 52-degree Nantahala River by means of a raft bridge.

† raft-deck n. Obsolete an underwater deck designed to cover and protect the unarmoured parts of certain warships.

ΚΠ

1885 Times 1 May 13/2 I am glad to see that the gallant Admiral separates his case and the cellular or raft-deck system from any connexion with the Collingwood or Admiral type of ship.

1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 822/2 But the sailors of 1854–1860 did not take the view that buoyancy and stability..were the vital parts, needing defence by armour or by a raft-deck.

raft-dog n. = rafting dog n. at rafting n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > bar or timber holding raft together

raft-dog1846

float1874

1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 244 Secured by means of raft-dogs, with chains wove through them.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 558 A sort of float..fastened together with swifters and raft-dogs.

1969 Amer. Speech 44 52 Raft dog, a form of dog used to hold together the logs forming a raft. It is made of an iron bar with ends bent down and sharpened.

raft duck n. chiefly U.S. any of several ducks which gather in large flocks on water; esp. a scaup or other member of the genus Aythya.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > member of genus Aythya (miscellaneous) > aythya marila (scaup)

smeath1622

smee1668

scaup-duck1676

bluebill1792

scaup1798

greyback1824

raft duck1824

mussel duck1864

1824 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds X. 302 Scaup Duck..is known in Georgia, and called by some the Raft Duck. [Note] But the Raft Duck, truly so called, is another species.

1824 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds X. 352 Raft Duck (Anas fuligula).

1951 Amer. Speech 26 91 Mrs. Annie Trumbull Slosson wrote..in 1891 from Punta Gorda, Florida, that lesser scaups were there called raft ducks.

1975 P. A. Johnsgard Waterfowl N. Amer. II. 347 The ‘rafting’ behaviour of migrant and wintering scaup is well known and indicated by their vernacular names—‘raft duck’, ‘flock duck’, and ‘troop duck’.

raft foundation n. = sense 5a.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > foundations

groundc950

ground-wallc1000

fundamentc1300

foundation1398

sole1417

paepae1846

raft1891

raft foundation1895

1895 J. K. Freitag Archit. Engin. x. 175 The saving in weight, through the use of the raft foundation, is thus sufficient to allow an additional story.

1910 F. Rings Reinforced Concrete iv. 61 For ordinary level or raft foundations wire meshing or expanded metal are extremely useful.

1998 Chartered Surveyor Monthly May 19/1 The neighbour being a DIY enthusiast, the raft foundation was constructed with a ‘fine sand/cement’ mix, with no aggregate.

† raft-fowl n. U.S. Obsolete raft ducks collectively.

ΚΠ

1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 150 Raft-Fowl includes all the sorts of small Ducks and Teal, that go in Rafts along the Shoar.

† raft port n. Nautical Obsolete an opening in the stern of a ship through which timber can be loaded or unloaded.

ΚΠ

1766 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. III Raft-port, a large square port, or hole, cut thro' the buttock of a ship, immediately under the counter, to receive the planks, or timber.

1768 in Mariner's Mirror (1933) 19 295 Raft port between decks: up and down 2 ft. 8 in.

1841 Times 3 Sept. 3/3 The raft-port having been left open, the water rushed in and almost filled her.

1860 H. Gouger Personal Narr. vii. 77 He..re-entered the ship by the open raft port.

raft spider n. either of two Eurasian spiders of the genus Dolomedes (family Pisauridae), the largest in Europe, which frequent pools and swamps and catch insects and other prey on the surface film and in the water.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > member of family Pisauridae

water spider1702

water mite1763

water tick1763

raft spider1865

1865 J. G. Wood Homes without Hands xxx. 597 There is another spider which frequents water, but which only makes a temporary and moveable residence. This is the Raft Spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus).

1989 Green Mag. Oct. 13/1 The rare great raft spider has a body length of about an inch, and an average-sized example—legs and all—would cover the palm of a hand.

2002 Water Gardener July 63 It [sc. the bog habitat] is home to many unusual plants... The huge Bog raft spider's home is rapidly disappearing.

raft wood n. timber used for building rafts; spec. balsa wood from the tree Ochroma pyrimidale.

ΚΠ

1823 A. Hodgson Remarks during Journey through N. Amer. 158 Their shores loaded with raft-wood, which was then floating down the bay in immense quantities.

1861 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 31 184 The Raft-wood trees, species of Ochroma (of the N. O. Bombaceæ). They begin to be found..say from 3000 feet elevation downwards.

1880 C. R. Markham Peruvian Bark 225 One of the rafts..was composed of twelve trunks of raft-wood.

1973 Amer. Anthropologist 75 1846/1 When fishermen's raft wood disappears, so will they, at least as independent producers.

Derivatives

raft-like adj.

ΚΠ

1851 E. S. Wortley Trav. in U.S. II. v. 92 These insulated and raft-like fields were adorned with lovely beds of countless flowers.

1901 Mem. Carnegie Mus. I. i. 40 Taken together the sternals of Diplodocus would thus form a shallow raft-like sternum.

1991 G. Burn Alma Cogan (1992) vi. 117 You look down on the raft-like canopy projecting over the entrance to the Odeon theatre.

raftwise adv.

ΚΠ

1873 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 680.2 From crossing a river or lake on a floating log, or on two or more logs fastened together raft-wise, the first steps towards ship-building were probably Canoes..and Coracles.

1905 ‘Q’ Shining Ferry i. vi. 61 A hatch opened in her bows, through which the long balks of timber were thrust..to be laid raftwise and lashed together with chains.

1944 in C. F. Romanus & R. Sunderland U.S. Army in World War II (1956) v. 197 This should permit a bold advance by 4 Corps raftwise down the Chindwin.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

raftv.¹

Brit.

/rɑːft/,

/raft/, U.S.

/ræft/

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: raft n.¹

Etymology: < raft n.¹ With sense 6 compare earlier rafter v. 1.The word is attested earlier in uncertain sense (apparently ‘to bridge or block with a mass of floating timber’) in an isolated attestation:1595 Voy. Sir F. Drake in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) III. iii. 584 They had also sunke a great shippe in the mouth of the chanell and rafted it ouer with her mastes almost to the very fortes and castles, so as they thought it impregnable.

I. Senses relating to floating objects.

†a. transitive. With off. To transport (casks) from the shore to a ship by floating. Also with the liquid in the casks as object. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > float water casks to ship

raft1664

1664 T. Allin Jrnl. 4 Oct. (1939) (modernized text) I. 157 We stayed with our boats ashore to raft off our wine... The cask..was not fit to raft off, so were forced to send our long-boats to hoist it in.

1694 T. Phillips in Coll. Voy. & Trav. (1732) VI. 229/1 Two men..fill'd our small hogsheads in the night, and roll'd them over the sand to the sea-side, ready to raft off in the morning.

1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 174 We now continued to raft off Water.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. v. 334 We were obliged to raft off all our cask, and the tide ran so strong, that..we more than once lost the whole raft.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxxvii. 424 Clear old prime Nantucket water; which..the Nantucketer, in the Pacific, prefers to drink before the brackish fluid, but yesterday rafted off in casks.

1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 146 The casks must be rafted off to the ship.

b. transitive. To transport by water on or by means of a raft.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > in specific type of craft or by specific propulsion

rowa1470

boat1508

keel1599

barge1652

raft1667

drog1681

sculler1682

paddle1784

punt1818

scull1827

wherry1827

yawl1884

steam1891

submarine1918

gondolier1936

1667 Articles of Agreement 8 June in H. W. Richardson York Deeds (Maine) (1887) II. f. 165 Hee doth further promisse to helpe raft down the Tymber.

1689 H. Kelsey Jrnl. 22 July in Kelsey Papers (1929) 30 This morning tryed to gett over y^e mouth of it but could not so..went up y^e river to Raft our selves over.

1752 J. Robson Acct. Six Years Resid. Hudson's-Bay 12 The fire wood..is intended to be rafted to the factory in the summer.

1766 Hist. Acct. Exped. against Ohio Indians 55 The carts, provisions and baggage, may be rafted over, or a bridge built.

1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. ii. 33 We rafted ourselves across.

1847 Knickerbocker 29 314 We crossed it on the following day, rafting over our horses and equipage with much difficulty.

1938 Q. Rev. Biol. 13 283/2 There are no animals on the Antilles too large to have been rafted across water gaps.

1966 Amer. Naturalist 100 209 If one accepts the possibility of seeds being ‘rafted’ over longer distances,..the seeds of the Hawaiian wild species, G[ossypium] sandvicense, have sufficient tolerance to salt water immersion.

1993 W. A. McDougall Let Sea make Noise 56 Every scrap of iron and canvas, not to mention all other necessities, had to be carted, rafted, sledged, and shipped from home.

c. transitive. To transport by water in the form of a raft. Also in extended use: to transport in a large floating mass.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > send by ship > in form of raft

raft1708

1708 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected (ed. 2) 3 Puts him [sc. Charon] upon the modern Invention, of rafting [1707 of casting] the poor Souls astern, like Water-Cask.

1768 in F. Chase Hist. Dartmouth Coll. (1891) I. 104 The stream..(a branch of Merrimack, by which logs are rafted to the sea).

1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 84 The ships have to discharge it [sc. timber] in the old dock, and it is rafted round into the harbour.

1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 26 Cedars out of Lebanon Which Hiram rafted down.

1921 Discovery Feb. 48/1 The water hyacinth..causes an annual loss of one-fourth of the value of the logs rafted down the river.

1961 Nature 3 June 856/2 Sial blocks..being rafted to down-welling sites.

2005 J. Diamond Collapse (2006) ix. 298 The government cleared obstacles from rivers so that logs could be floated or rafted down them to the coast.

2. intransitive. To travel on a raft, go by raft. Frequently with adverb or adverbial phrase.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > [verb (intransitive)] > in specific type of craft

to barge it1599

boat?1630

canoe1732

shallop1737

raft1741

scow1749

steam1832

yacht1836

screw1840

steamer1866

gondole1874

kayak1875

sail1898

tramp1899

motor-boat1903

barge1909

hover1962

power1964

motor1968

jet-ski1978

1741 R. Hazzen Jrnl. 10 Apr. in New-Eng. Historical & Geneal. Reg. (1879) 33 330 We met with great difficulty in passing that River, first attempting to wade,..then tried to Raft.

1753 G. Washington Diary 6 Dec. (1925) I. 57 Sent our Horses a little way up French Creek to raft over and encamp.

1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 122 They cannot raft out of the old dock.

1888 Academy 34 301/2 They canoed, and rafted, and steam-boated.

1916 A. C. Laut Cariboo Trail i. 8 Thousands passed Victoria altogether and went in by pack-train from Okanagan or rafted across from Puget Sound.

1938 Daily Tel. & Morning Post 7 Jan. 6/5 There are..dozens of exciting episodes memorably visualized, like the incident of the starving men rafting to safety.

1996 China Post (Taipei) 1 May 16/7 (advt.) Raft down the rapids into the sunset.

a. transitive. To tie, gather, or force together in a raft. Also (now chiefly): to tie or moor (a number of usually small boats) together; cf. raft-up n. Also with up.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > form into raft(s)

raft1745

1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 120 A couple of Canoes, which we brought..on purpose to raft and carry up Barreecas.

1800 P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames i. 27 These Logs are rafted in the River.

1883 J. Fraser Shanty, Forest & River Life xxix. 340 The timber is floated in single pieces down all the numerous tributaries of the Ottawa, and then ‘rafted-up’ at ‘the mouth’ of each.

1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 38 Stacked with flaming spears Old Ocean shone, as swaying through the Night He rafted up his monstrous chandeliers.

1976 Yachts & Yachting 20 Aug. 353/1 In St. Peter Port I have seen yachts rafted-up almost wall-to-wall on the buoys, like the trots used to be at Cowes.

1994 Outdoor Canada May 28/1 We rafted the boats together three kilometers off the shores of Murchison Island.

2009 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 4 Dec. 4/2 The sight of the six vessels rafted together in the loch, with engines and systems stilled.

b. transitive. In passive. Of waterfowl: to be gathered in a flock on the surface of a body of water. Also intransitive. Cf. raft n.¹ 4a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [verb (intransitive)] > assemble

raft1946

1946 Condor 48 274 Ordinarily they [sc. gadwalls and pintails] rafted quite apart from each other.

1978 J. A. Michener Chesapeake 665 There must have been three thousand ducks rafted there beneath a frozen late-rising moon.

1996 Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard 26 Dec. d8/2 Fast-moving storms and shifting winds cause ducks rafted on water to get up and fly periodically.

4. transitive. Originally and chiefly North American. To travel upon or cross (a body of water, esp. a river) by means of a raft.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > [verb (transitive)] > in specific type of craft

skiffa1625

raft1760

boat1835

canoe1932

kayak1932

1760 R. Rogers Jrnl. 25 May (1765) 177 The river St. Francis..is very still water, and may be easily rafted where you cross it.

1808 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) ii. 119 We concluded to raft the river, which we effected with difficulty.

1873 J. McDougall G. M. McDougall (1888) 191 Rapid and dangerous rivers have been rafted.

1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. i. 17 Ready to raft the deep, Wade shallow or dive for gain.

1974 Marlboro Herald-Advocate (Bennettsville, S. Carolina) 22 Apr. 6/2 During the four day exercise, members of the 541st engineer company rafted the Rhine river and secured tactical positions.

1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 30 Jan. f8/3 There are few nooks and crannies left in the world that have not already been trekked, rafted, kayaked, ballooned.

a. intransitive. Of an ice floe: to be driven on top of or underneath another floe. Of ice: to pile up in overriding layers. Also with up.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [verb (intransitive)] > pile up (of ice-floe)

raft1843

1843 Jrnl. Gen. Assembly Newfoundland App. 465 From the rhinding of the Trees, by the Ice, along the banks of this River, it would appear that the Ice rafts to an almost incredible height.

1874 Nature 6 Aug. 266/2 Often before a breeze of wind comes the ice rafts or squeezes, layer on layer, with a creaking sound.

1919 E. Shackleton South i. 11 In obedience to renewed pressure this young ice ‘rafts’, so forming double thicknesses of a toffee-like consistency.

1960 Jrnl. Glaciol. 3 727 Under pressure this ice characteristically rafts in a step-like formation.

1992 B. Morgan Random Passage ii. 39 Arctic ice..drifts onto the Cape in loose pans that grind together, rafting up on shore, sometimes tipping on edge like giant dinner plates.

b. transitive. To force (ice) into overriding layers. Also with up. Only in passive.

ΚΠ

1883 J. Hatton & M. Harvey Newfoundland iii. iii. 301 Under pressure of the storm, it frequently happens that the ice is ‘rafted’, as the sealers call it.

1916 H. Gordon Jrnl. in Labrador Parson (1972) 67 As the pressure increased, great sheets of ice were rafted up over the rocky shore and piled high and dry.

1958 Evening Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 28 Apr. 2/3 There Bozo is now, surrounded by pack ice which is being rafted by tides and frost into a jumble of pressure-ice.

1995 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 5 Feb. f11 Chunk ice was rafted up in the backwaters.

†II. Senses relating to rafters.

6. transitive. To build or provide with rafters; = rafter v. 1. Cf. raft n.¹ 1. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > roof > rafter

rafter1538

raft1706

1706 P. Lewis & P. Lewis Indenture 13 Sept. in L. B. Chapman York Deeds (1892) VII. f. 51 I will get and provide for my brother..the frame of a dwelling house..redy to be rafted and raised at or before the last day of May.

1804 Trans. Soc. Arts 22 70 The roof rafted and thatched by myself.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	raft
释义	raftn.¹ Brit. /rɑːft/, /raft/, U.S. /ræft/ Forms: α. Middle English reft, late Middle English rafft, late Middle English–1600s rafte, 1500s– raft. β. late Middle English–1600s raff, 1500s–1600s raffe; Scottish pre-1700 raff, pre-1700 raiff. Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic raptr rafter, (plural) roof, ceiling (Icelandic raftur , †rapti beam, rafter, stake, post), Norwegian raft beam, rafter, stake, pole, Swedish (now chiefly regional) raft , rafta , rafte beam, rafter (first half of the 16th cent.), Old Danish rafft , raft , rafte stick, beam, especially rod for taking measurements (Danish raft , rafte slender pole, especially thin stem from which the bark has been removed, (in technical use also) rafter)), probably < the Indo-European base of classical Latin rēpere to creep (see repent adj.²), Old Church Slavonic rěpije thistles collectively (translating Hellenistic Greek τρίβολος thistle (Matthew 7:16), specific use of ancient Greek τρίβολος denoting various prickly plants), Lithuanian rėplinti , rėplioti to crawl, creep. The later semantic development is apparently peculiar to English, as sense 2 and later senses are unparalleled in other Germanic languages. Compare earlier rafter n.¹ and later raff n.²The β. forms are probably either influenced by, or show the same development as, raff n.² 1. A beam, a spar; a rafter. Scottish in later use. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records this sense as still in use in Selkirkshire in 1967, but marks it as obsolescent. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > in form of bar, pole, rod, etc. stingc725 stakec893 sowelc900 tree971 rungOE shaftc1000 staffc1000 stockc1000 poleOE spritOE luga1250 lever1297 stanga1300 perchc1300 raftc1330 sheltbeam1336 stower1371 palea1382 spar1388 spire1392 perk1396 ragged staff1397 peela1400 slot1399 plantc1400 heck-stower1401 sparkin1408 cammockc1425 sallow stakec1440 spoke1467 perk treec1480 yard1480 bode1483 spit1485 bolm1513 gada1535 ruttock1542 stob1550 blade1558 wattle1570 bamboo1598 loggat1600 barling1611 sparret1632 picket1687 tringle1706 sprund1736 lug-pole1773 polting lug1789 baton1801 stuckin1809 rack-pin1821 picket-pin1844 I-iron1874 pricker1875 stag1881 podger1888 window pole1888 verge1897 sallow pole1898 lat1899 swizzle-stick1962 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > rafter raftereOE raft1820 c1330 (?c1300) Reinbrun (Auch.) in J. Zupitza Guy of Warwick (1891) 657 (MED) Þe reftes al cipres be. a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 20398 (MED) Maystres off dyvers crafftys Hang out, on polys and on rafftys, Dyuers sygnys. c1475 (?c1425) Avowing of King Arthur (1984) l. 383 Aythir gripus a schafte Was als rude as a rafte. 1574 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 386 [He] hes takin doun certane houssis..and cariit away the tymber and raftis thairof. 1650 tr. J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Reserata xli. §446 Especially, if it [sc. a barrel] bee laid upon stalls [margin Rafts, tressels] somwhat high. 1656 W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Mary & James VI 493 The Pyrates had boomed up the Moles with Masts and Raffs, and set a double Guard upon all their Ships. 1745 F. Blomefield Ess. Topogr. Hist. Norfolk II. 148 Raftermen, those that deal in Rafts or Timber Pieces. 1761 in Trans. Dumfriesshire & Galloway Nat. Hist. & Antiquarian Soc. (1929) (modernized text) 15 37 William Simpson in Tarkirra cut an ash stick in his own possession for supporting one of his houses which would rive to be a pair of rafts or better. 1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 8 147 The roof wags its remotest raft. 1854 S. T. Dobell Balder xxviii. 198 Like a Temple wherein cost Is absolute, dark beam and hidden raft Shittim. 1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 18 An' dan de rafts teuk fire an' de couples teuk fire. 1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 245 Raft, a rafter. 2. A number of logs, planks, etc., fastened together in the water for transportation by floating. Now chiefly in North American contexts (esp. in the logging industry). ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > vessels of primitive construction > [noun] > raft > mass of logs, etc., floated for transport raft1497 1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 249 Cariage of certeyn mastes to the Watyrsyde and ther to be made in a Raff & so to be conveyed to Portesmouth. 1560 Bible (Geneva) ii. Chron. ii. 16 We wil cut wood in Lebanon as much as thou shalt nede, and wil bring it to thee in raftes by the sea to Iapho, so thou maiest cary them to Ierusalem. 1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xviii. §2. 497 Hiram caused his seruants to bring downe the Cedars and Firres from Libanon to the sea, and thence sent them in raffes to Ioppe. 1685 in New-Eng. Hist. & Geneal. Reg. (1882) 36 396 By one Raft of boards qt 12500 ft. 1713 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1906) XLII. 348 [They were] bound up to Salem with a raft of timber or pieces for Masts. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 119 [Crocodiles] lying as close to each other, as a raft of timber upon one of our streams. 1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Dean At proper seasons, large rafts of trees are constructed, and floated to the sea. 1863 W. F. Campbell & J. F. Campbell Life in Normandy II. 80 [They] work the rafts of timber and floats of tar barrels down the great rivers to the Gulf of Bothnia. 1912 J. Sandilands Western Canad. Dict. & Phrase-bk. at Raft Rafts on Canadian waterways are sometimes of enormous size. c1950 R. Haig-Brown in V. Haig-Brown Woods & River Tales (1980) xii. 121 He was a very good boom-man, skilful in sorting logs and building them into a safe raft for towing. 2004 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 9 Feb. a1 Rafting dogs—pointed eyelets hammered into logs so they could be lashed into rafts. 3. a. A flat, buoyant structure of timber or other materials fastened together, used as a boat or floating platform. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > vessels of primitive construction > [noun] > raft float1535 raft1581 float-boat1600 α. 1589 J. Eldred in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 233 They bring these victuals and diuers sorts of marchandises vpon rafts borne vpon goats skins blowen vp ful of wind in maner of bladders. a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 356 Where is that sonne That floated with thee on the fatall rafte . View more context for this quotation 1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures lxvi. 267 Before it was day they had made a raft of such planks and beams as came to their hands. 1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 65 This Raft was so unweildy, and so overloaden, that..it overset. 1790 R. Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. II. 354 The building of a large raft, or radeau, to carry some heavy artillery. 1823 M. Graham Jrnl. 10 Jan. in Captain's Wife (1993) 145 Sailors fitting spars across the light logs, called balsas, to make a raft to ship the goods with. 1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene II. i. 13 There were plenty of planks on the deck, and if it were daylight I could tie them together and make a raft, which would bear me up. a1918 G. Stuart 40 Years on Frontier (1925) II. 17 The boats..were little better than rafts. 1956 Times 22 Aug. 8/4 The raft of rough-hewn red cedar logs..on which three Frenchmen from Canada have drifted across the Atlantic..was towed into Falmouth harbour to-day. 2000 A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) x. 121 Each raft bore a tall mast and a pole with a handful of grass affixed to the top, an offering to the river's nats. β. 1581 T. Nicholas tr. A. de Zárate Discov. & Conquest Peru vi. sig. C iii The raffe is made like an open hand, euen as one finger is longer then another: And on the toppe are plankes layde to kepe soldiers or passengers from wetting.1588 T. Hickock tr. C. Federici Voy. & Trauaile f. 2 Certaine Zattares or Raffes made of blowne hides or skins... These Raffes are bound fast together.1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 185 Making a little boat, or rather as some suppose a raffe.1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia iv. 144 Now these huge Raffes with speed they load. b. In extended use and figurative: a thing which floats, appears to float, or gives support in the manner of a raft. ΚΠ 1722 R. Blackmore Redemption 363 Praise him, ye winds, that ventilate the air, Shove floating rafts of clouds, and vig'rous bear Black furnaces. 1774 H. Home Sketches Hist. of Man II. i. vii. 108 Upon the raft of clouds I'd ride, Which unto Orra fly. a1822 P. B. Shelley Homer's Hymn to Mercury xiii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 299 For each foot he wrought a kind of raft Of tamarisk. 1863 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 447 Ames, by report of Waldo Emerson, expressed the popular security wisely, saying..‘a republic is a raft, which would never sink, but then your feet are always in the water.’ 1940 L. MacNeice Last Ditch 19 All the leaves are waves And the top of Primrose Hill A raft on stormy seas. 1955 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 91/1 To prolong the life of a corsage spray float it in a saucer of water, making a small ‘raft’ of white paper and resting the head of the flower on it. 1995 H. Hamilton Love Test 151 All became precious rafts of reality. c. Originally and chiefly Military = raft bridge n. at Compounds 2. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > bridge > constructed of boats, rafts, or pontoons pontoon1590 ship-bridge1663 flying bridge1675 float-bridge1692 pont volant1710 raft bridge1733 pontoon bridge1757 raft1761 society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > floating bridge bridge of boatsa1387 pontoon1590 boat bridge1598 ship-bridge1663 flying bridge1675 float-bridge1692 floating bridge1706 raft bridge1733 pontoon bridge1757 raft1761 1761 J. Otway tr. L. Turpin de Crissé Ess. Art of War I. ii. x. 254 A general can make use of rafts, or flying bridges. 1794 tr. P. N. Chantreau Philos., Polit., & Lit. Trav. Russia II. xix. 271 We crossed the Moscowa, upon a sort of raft, or boat fixed to the two banks. The Russians call these rafts, Moving bridges. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. viii. 128 Be ready to thrust the raft endlong over the moat whenever the postern on our side is thrown open. 1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 322/1 Good rafts can be made of casks or barrels, and form a better bridge than baulks of timber. 1972 Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 62 95/1 Where the stream was too broad for the beam principle, the Incas and their Indian successors used other means, the least common of which were pontoon bridges and rafts. d. A small craft (now typically a shallow, inflatable boat) designed for use in an emergency at sea; a life raft. In later use also: a similar boat used recreationally. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > lifeboat or raft boatlOE lifeboat1797 safety boat1814 life raft1819 life craft1844 raft1849 redningskoite1906 Carley float1915 crash boat1936 1849 Times 30 Mar. 3/3 The contrivance of a simple raft for saving a ship's crew and transporting them to the shore. 1944 Stars & Stripes (London ed.) 1 May 3 Three others treaded water for three hours before succeeding in blowing up another raft by lung power. 1988 P. Wayburn Adventuring in Alaska (rev. ed.) iii. 245 Canoes, kayaks, and rafts are all suitable, although there are stretches of class III and class IV water. 1991 Salt Water Sportsman Feb. 26/1 The basic emergency kit contains..a knife for cutting the raft's painter line, a sea anchor..,raft-repair kit..and a bailer. 2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 Jan. iii. 12/6 The raft flipped, and I zoomed downwater through a long gorge with one rapid after the other. 4. a. Originally U.S. A dense flock of floating ducks, or of other aquatic birds or mammals. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > by habitat > [noun] > aquatic animal > group of raft1709 the world > animals > birds > defined by habitat > [noun] > aquatic or swimming bird > flock of bunch1622 raft1709 sail1727 knob1816 the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > group of badlinga1450 teamc1450 raft1709 1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 150 Raft-Fowl includes all the sorts of small Ducks and Teal, that go in Rafts along the Shoar. 1848 W. E. Burton Waggeries & Vagaries 70 We've shoals of shad, hull rafts of canvass-back ducks, and no end of terrapins. 1872 Fur, Fin & Feather 26 The great collections [of ducks] are termed rafts. 1936 Condor 38 14 Surf Scoter. One raft of these ducks in high plumage was seen at Point Mugu on July 15. 1975 Country Life 16 Jan. 132/3 A tiny band of sea otters..had grown to a raft of 130. 1988 E. Wood et al. Sea Life Brit. & Ireland 31 Large ‘rafts’ of guillemots, razorbills and puffins can be found far from land in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. 1999 Wildlife News Sept. 8/4 The expanse of open water is likely to hold rafts of pochard, tufted duck, [etc.]. b. Originally U.S. A large mass of material, such as vegetation, ice, etc., floating on the surface of a body of water. Cf. ice raft n. at ice n. Compounds 8. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > an accumulation > floating raft1772 1772 B. Romans in P. L. Phillips Notes B. Romans 122 I Could not Proceed any farther not being provided with any Tools, to Clear the River, of the Rafts a little higher up. 1802 A. Ellicott Jrnl. (1803) 189 The upper raft is of considerable magnitude, and covered with grass and other herbage, with some bushes. 1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vii. 83 The descending ice..lodged, and formed a great, undulating raft, filling up the whole river. 1918 H. E. Gregory Mil. Geol. & Topogr. iv. 97 The floating raft of vegetation, rising and falling with fluctuations in the water level, may overlie clear water or soft ooze. 1979 D. Attenborough Life on Earth (1981) i. 13 Maybe..birds and reptiles from continental South America had reached the Galapagos, ferried on the rafts of vegetation that float down the rivers and out to sea. 1987 New Yorker 23 Feb. 55/2 In the Red River, he undertook to disassemble a ‘raft’—uprooted trees by the tens of thousands that were stopping navigation for a hundred and sixty miles. 1990 M. Armstrong Agviq x. 138 A storm surge pushed great rafts of ice—old ice, sea ice—up over the new ice, the ice merging. c. In specific technical uses: a relatively flat mass or accumulation of something floating in or on the surface of a fluid; esp. a connected mass of floating insect or fish eggs. ΚΠ 1927 Observer 18 Sept. 8 The egg-raft is laid by the many species of that group of mosquitoes..represented by our common gnat. 1952 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 108 2 Deep-seated convection currents in an imagined sima have been postulated by some..and drifting of continental rafts has seemed more attractive to others. 1959 A. C. Hardy Open Sea II. x. 196 The spawn of the angler is most remarkable; a million eggs or so are laid in a great mucus raft which measures two or three feet across and up to twenty or thirty feet in length. 1989 Nature 23 Mar. 293/1 The issue is the evolution in time, by coalescence and other means, of a raft of soap bubbles. 2004 Science 23 Jan. 435/4 Lipid rafts..are membrane microdomains where cholesterol is tightly packed with saturated phospholipids in a highly ordered state. d. Cookery (originally U.S.). A mass that forms on the surface of a consommé or stock that flavours and clarifies it, typically consisting of meat, vegetables, and egg whites. ΚΠ 1962 Professional Chef 248 The chemical action of these three ingredients [for clarifying stock] causes a coagulation of the egg white and meat protein.., separating it from the remaining liquid... This coagulation or floating mass is called a raft. 1984 B. Clayton Compl. Bk. Soups & Stews 59 Lean muscle meat, egg whites and vegetables..are cooked together in a stock pot until they congeal to form a raft. 1992 Sydney Morning Herald 28 Nov. (Good Weekend Mag.) 75/4 Leave undisturbed for an hour until a crust (‘raft’) has formed. Carefully remove the crust and ladle the consommé through a double layer of wet muslin. 2000 A. Bourdain Kitchen Confid. (2001) 116 The Room prep area always had three gigantic steam kettles filled with a dark, all-purpose stock, simmering endlessly under a ‘raft’ of ground beef, meat scraps, chicken bones, turkey carcasses, the trimmings of vegetables, carrot peelings and egg shells. 5. a. Building. A layer of reinforced concrete forming the foundation of a building. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > foundations groundc950 ground-wallc1000 fundamentc1300 foundation1398 sole1417 paepae1846 raft1891 raft foundation1895 1886 Times 20 Aug. 13/1 On this a raft of oak planks several inches thick was laid crossing in double layer, and on this were deposited masses of squared stone up to the wall bases.] 1891 Harper's Mag. Aug. 396/2 These towering and massive structures ultimately rest upon a quagmire... It is managed in the heaviest buildings by floating them upon a raft of concrete and railroad iron spread a few feet below the surface. 1936 Concrete & Constructional Engin. 31 423 There are a great many districts where rafts are the best and often the only solution to foundation problems. 1978 Daily Tel. 12 May 19/3 All the floors in the houses are dropping out because they were built on a concrete raft. The raft is now sinking into the peat below. 1995 Vancouver Sun 2 Oct. b2/6 To guard against this [sc. damage from earthquakes], the Annacis project is being built on a ‘raft’ of one-metre thick reinforced concrete. b. Archaeology. A layer of stones, rubble, timber, etc., supporting a structure. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [noun] > archaeology > built structures > parts of raft1897 porthole1928 1897 B. C. A. Windle Life Early Britain iv. 76 The work [of constructing a crannock] was thus carried out: (1) Immediately over the chosen site a circular raft of trunks of trees, laid above branches and brushwood, was formed [etc.]. 1928 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 18 198 The first-century clay rampart here rests on a very well-preserved raft of oak beams. 1964 Medieval Archaeol. 8 250 Large blocks of chalk, forming a ‘raft’ on which the chancels were constructed. 1998 P. Rahtz & L. Watts Kirkdale Archaeol. 1996–1997 12 On the north side of the tower..the underlying material was a massive rubble raft extending down to the natural clay. 6. U.S. slang. In the language of short-order cooks: a piece of toast, as served with eggs (chiefly in Adam and Eve on a raft: see Adam and Eve n. 5). Also: a piece of bread used as the base of any dish. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > bread dish > [noun] pain1706 raft1894 1894 North-eastern Daily Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 15 Oct. One day he ordered poached eggs on toast. Going to the slide the waiter yelled out: ‘Adam and Eve on a raft.’ 1899 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 17 July 5/3 An order for eggs on toast went to the kitchen as, ‘Adam and Eve on a raft’, but if after giving this order the customer wanted the eggs plain, the countermand went out as, ‘Save Adam and Eve; sink the raft.’ 1915 Dallas Morning News 28 Mar. 4 ‘Poached eggs on toast,’ says the customer... ‘Bride and groom on a raft in the middle of the ocean!’ shouts the waiter. 1935 H. Carr Los Angeles 265 Mac, stack and a shorty brown and heavy on the goo; two on a raft and double it. 1986 S. Tsuji & K. Hata Practical Japanese Cooking 17/3 Remove the crusts from the bread... Deep-fry the rafts until bread is golden brown... Arrange a shrimp raft and a sardine raft on each plate. 2003 Dinner's On 14 Eggs and Asparagus on a Raft... Gently lift eggs from water and place 1 on each muffin half. Compounds C1. † raft-chain n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1823 Edinb. Advertiser 21 Oct. 1/1 (advt.) A large Beam and Scales, one ton weight; a Raft Chain, Grate, Fender and Irons, with other Articles. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 559 There are also dog-hooks..by which the raft-chains are secured. raft log n. ΚΠ 1753 G. Washington Jrnl. in Writings (1889) I. 38 I fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the Raft Logs. 1898 Bot. Gaz. 25 58 Since then..the plant has not come to my notice, until it turned up again in the autumn of 1895 on raft-logs in our lake. 2002 Owen Sound (Ont.) Sun Times (Nexis) 10 Aug. a1 (caption) Sawyer Jack Allen with the end of a 190-year-old raft log. raftman n. ΚΠ 1776 C. Carroll Jrnl. 16 Apr. (1845) 47 Each one is marked, so that the raft-men..may easily know their own rafts. 1847 C. Lanman Summer in Wilderness xviii. 111 The principal anglers for this fish are steamboat hands and raftmen. 1903 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 228/1 The figures of the raftmen seem to walk magically on the water. 2005 PNG Post-Courier (Nexis) 28 Jan. 21 The master raftman was back, back on his river. raftmaster n. ΚΠ 1828 J. R. Planché Desc. Danube 56 The Raft-masters of Munich. 2003 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 8 Aug. 8 ‘It gives no guarantee that one would enjoy more rapids during the dry season as some are best taken with swollen water,’ says raftmaster Zaidi. raft race n. ΚΠ 1908 Orange County (N.Y.) Times 30 June 8/4 (advt.) Raft race, in and out for a prize. 2003 K. Brooks Lucas (2004) v. 113 The charity raft race starts at the boatyard and follows a series of buoys around the bay. raft tug n. ΚΠ 1868 Dubuque (Iowa) Daily Herald 29 Sept. The Iowa City, a raft tug, arrived from below and lay at the levee taking supplies aboard. 1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 5 Nov. Raft tugs are in demand to bring more logs down. 1981 BBC Summary of World Broadcasts (Nexis) 2 July The Hungarian shipyard and crane enterprise concluded a contract..for the construction of 16 t river and 25 t seagoing floating cranes, pusher boats and raft tugs for use in Siberian waters. raft voyage n. ΚΠ 1867 Sci. Amer. 18 May 324/2 (heading) A raft voyage to Europe. 1947 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 2 Nov. 13/1 The younger generation evidently was more interested in the raft voyage and the fish we had caught at sea. 2005 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 27 Jan. 8 There have been 43 raft voyages since the Kon-Tiki in 1947 and only one person has died. raft work n. ΚΠ 1767 Christian's Mag. 7 109/2 They had built a kind of stragling town, had plenty of brick and raft work, and intended to remain till the return of the French fleet. 1892 ‘B. Hinton’ Lord's Return 200 Liking best the raft-work on the Hudson. 1995 C. D. Totman Lumber Industry Early Mod. Japan iii. 54 On such major logging rivers as the Tenryū, Kiso, and Ōi near Kyoto, there were official opening and closing dates for raft work. C2. raft-breasted adj. Ornithology (now rare) (of a bird) having no keel to the sternum; ratite. ΚΠ 1890 Cent. Dict. Raft-breasted, ratite. 1891 Geol. Mag. 8 379 These Ratite, or raft-breasted flightless birds, have been found in a fossil state in England, France, India, Madagascar, New Zealand, Australia, and America. 1964 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell Text-bk. Zool. (ed. 7) II. 606 Several flying birds in specialised habitats have lost the carinate condition, and become raft-breasted in varying degree along with the abandonment of flying. raft bridge n. originally Military a floating bridge made of a raft, or supported by rafts (cf. sense 3c). ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > bridge > constructed of boats, rafts, or pontoons pontoon1590 ship-bridge1663 flying bridge1675 float-bridge1692 pont volant1710 raft bridge1733 pontoon bridge1757 raft1761 society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > floating bridge bridge of boatsa1387 pontoon1590 boat bridge1598 ship-bridge1663 flying bridge1675 float-bridge1692 floating bridge1706 raft bridge1733 pontoon bridge1757 raft1761 1733 W. Proctor Jrnl. Polish Majesty's Camp of Radewitz 44 Above was the Tun-Bridge, still higher the Raft-Bridge. 1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 121 When plenty of heavy timber can be procured, a raft-bridge may be made. 1922 Times 27 Dec. 12/1 Raft bridge across the Swale. 2005 Ashville (N. Carolina) Citizen-Times (Nexis) 1 Apr. 4 b Teams were required to cross the 52-degree Nantahala River by means of a raft bridge. † raft-deck n. Obsolete an underwater deck designed to cover and protect the unarmoured parts of certain warships. ΚΠ 1885 Times 1 May 13/2 I am glad to see that the gallant Admiral separates his case and the cellular or raft-deck system from any connexion with the Collingwood or Admiral type of ship. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 822/2 But the sailors of 1854–1860 did not take the view that buoyancy and stability..were the vital parts, needing defence by armour or by a raft-deck. raft-dog n. = rafting dog n. at rafting n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > bar or timber holding raft together raft-dog1846 float1874 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 244 Secured by means of raft-dogs, with chains wove through them. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 558 A sort of float..fastened together with swifters and raft-dogs. 1969 Amer. Speech 44 52 Raft dog, a form of dog used to hold together the logs forming a raft. It is made of an iron bar with ends bent down and sharpened. raft duck n. chiefly U.S. any of several ducks which gather in large flocks on water; esp. a scaup or other member of the genus Aythya. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > member of genus Aythya (miscellaneous) > aythya marila (scaup) smeath1622 smee1668 scaup-duck1676 bluebill1792 scaup1798 greyback1824 raft duck1824 mussel duck1864 1824 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds X. 302 Scaup Duck..is known in Georgia, and called by some the Raft Duck. [Note] But the Raft Duck, truly so called, is another species. 1824 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds X. 352 Raft Duck (Anas fuligula). 1951 Amer. Speech 26 91 Mrs. Annie Trumbull Slosson wrote..in 1891 from Punta Gorda, Florida, that lesser scaups were there called raft ducks. 1975 P. A. Johnsgard Waterfowl N. Amer. II. 347 The ‘rafting’ behaviour of migrant and wintering scaup is well known and indicated by their vernacular names—‘raft duck’, ‘flock duck’, and ‘troop duck’. raft foundation n. = sense 5a. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > foundations groundc950 ground-wallc1000 fundamentc1300 foundation1398 sole1417 paepae1846 raft1891 raft foundation1895 1895 J. K. Freitag Archit. Engin. x. 175 The saving in weight, through the use of the raft foundation, is thus sufficient to allow an additional story. 1910 F. Rings Reinforced Concrete iv. 61 For ordinary level or raft foundations wire meshing or expanded metal are extremely useful. 1998 Chartered Surveyor Monthly May 19/1 The neighbour being a DIY enthusiast, the raft foundation was constructed with a ‘fine sand/cement’ mix, with no aggregate. † raft-fowl n. U.S. Obsolete raft ducks collectively. ΚΠ 1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 150 Raft-Fowl includes all the sorts of small Ducks and Teal, that go in Rafts along the Shoar. † raft port n. Nautical Obsolete an opening in the stern of a ship through which timber can be loaded or unloaded. ΚΠ 1766 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. III Raft-port, a large square port, or hole, cut thro' the buttock of a ship, immediately under the counter, to receive the planks, or timber. 1768 in Mariner's Mirror (1933) 19 295 Raft port between decks: up and down 2 ft. 8 in. 1841 Times 3 Sept. 3/3 The raft-port having been left open, the water rushed in and almost filled her. 1860 H. Gouger Personal Narr. vii. 77 He..re-entered the ship by the open raft port. raft spider n. either of two Eurasian spiders of the genus Dolomedes (family Pisauridae), the largest in Europe, which frequent pools and swamps and catch insects and other prey on the surface film and in the water. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > member of family Pisauridae water spider1702 water mite1763 water tick1763 raft spider1865 1865 J. G. Wood Homes without Hands xxx. 597 There is another spider which frequents water, but which only makes a temporary and moveable residence. This is the Raft Spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus). 1989 Green Mag. Oct. 13/1 The rare great raft spider has a body length of about an inch, and an average-sized example—legs and all—would cover the palm of a hand. 2002 Water Gardener July 63 It [sc. the bog habitat] is home to many unusual plants... The huge Bog raft spider's home is rapidly disappearing. raft wood n. timber used for building rafts; spec. balsa wood from the tree Ochroma pyrimidale. ΚΠ 1823 A. Hodgson Remarks during Journey through N. Amer. 158 Their shores loaded with raft-wood, which was then floating down the bay in immense quantities. 1861 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 31 184 The Raft-wood trees, species of Ochroma (of the N. O. Bombaceæ). They begin to be found..say from 3000 feet elevation downwards. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruvian Bark 225 One of the rafts..was composed of twelve trunks of raft-wood. 1973 Amer. Anthropologist 75 1846/1 When fishermen's raft wood disappears, so will they, at least as independent producers. Derivatives raft-like adj. ΚΠ 1851 E. S. Wortley Trav. in U.S. II. v. 92 These insulated and raft-like fields were adorned with lovely beds of countless flowers. 1901 Mem. Carnegie Mus. I. i. 40 Taken together the sternals of Diplodocus would thus form a shallow raft-like sternum. 1991 G. Burn Alma Cogan (1992) vi. 117 You look down on the raft-like canopy projecting over the entrance to the Odeon theatre. raftwise adv. ΚΠ 1873 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 680.2 From crossing a river or lake on a floating log, or on two or more logs fastened together raft-wise, the first steps towards ship-building were probably Canoes..and Coracles. 1905 ‘Q’ Shining Ferry i. vi. 61 A hatch opened in her bows, through which the long balks of timber were thrust..to be laid raftwise and lashed together with chains. 1944 in C. F. Romanus & R. Sunderland U.S. Army in World War II (1956) v. 197 This should permit a bold advance by 4 Corps raftwise down the Chindwin. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022). raftn.² Brit. /rɑːft/, /raft/, U.S. /ræft/ Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: raff n.³ Etymology: Alteration of raff n.³ (compare raff n.³ 4), perhaps by association with raft n.¹ Originally North American. A large amount; a lot of something. Frequently in a whole raft of. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > large or numerous legiona1325 rout?c1335 multitudec1350 thrave1377 cloudc1384 schoola1450 meiniec1450 throng1538 ruckc1540 multitudine1547 swarm1548 regiment1575 armya1586 volley1595 pile1596 battalion1603 wood1608 host1613 armada1622 crowd1628 battalia1653 squadron1668 raffa1677 smytrie1786 raft1821 squash1884 1821 J. Howison Sketches Upper Canada xvi. 306 ‘You'll feel it hotter when we get agoing,’ replied the driver, ‘there's a raft of folks inside to-day.’ 1843 W. A. Ferris in Life in Rocky Mts. (1940) vi. 29 We..would have fought a whole raft of them. 1883 W. Aitken Lays 136 There's the weans, what a raft o' heart-breakin' wee loons. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt viii. 116 They say there's a whole raft of stuff being smuggled across at Detroit. 1959 Sunday Times 7 June 21/5 Only very rich companies with a raft of employees build them. 1977 Time 3 Jan. 36/1 There were a whole raft of programs in the '60s followed by eight years when there was no attempt to work with any degree of compassion. 2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 Oct. 24/1 A prolific writer with a raft of books and pamphlets to his credit. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). raftv.¹ Brit. /rɑːft/, /raft/, U.S. /ræft/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: raft n.¹ Etymology: < raft n.¹ With sense 6 compare earlier rafter v. 1.The word is attested earlier in uncertain sense (apparently ‘to bridge or block with a mass of floating timber’) in an isolated attestation:1595 Voy. Sir F. Drake in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) III. iii. 584 They had also sunke a great shippe in the mouth of the chanell and rafted it ouer with her mastes almost to the very fortes and castles, so as they thought it impregnable. I. Senses relating to floating objects. 1. †a. transitive. With off. To transport (casks) from the shore to a ship by floating. Also with the liquid in the casks as object. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > float water casks to ship raft1664 1664 T. Allin Jrnl. 4 Oct. (1939) (modernized text) I. 157 We stayed with our boats ashore to raft off our wine... The cask..was not fit to raft off, so were forced to send our long-boats to hoist it in. 1694 T. Phillips in Coll. Voy. & Trav. (1732) VI. 229/1 Two men..fill'd our small hogsheads in the night, and roll'd them over the sand to the sea-side, ready to raft off in the morning. 1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 174 We now continued to raft off Water. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. v. 334 We were obliged to raft off all our cask, and the tide ran so strong, that..we more than once lost the whole raft. 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxxvii. 424 Clear old prime Nantucket water; which..the Nantucketer, in the Pacific, prefers to drink before the brackish fluid, but yesterday rafted off in casks. 1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 146 The casks must be rafted off to the ship. b. transitive. To transport by water on or by means of a raft. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > in specific type of craft or by specific propulsion rowa1470 boat1508 keel1599 barge1652 raft1667 drog1681 sculler1682 paddle1784 punt1818 scull1827 wherry1827 yawl1884 steam1891 submarine1918 gondolier1936 1667 Articles of Agreement 8 June in H. W. Richardson York Deeds (Maine) (1887) II. f. 165 Hee doth further promisse to helpe raft down the Tymber. 1689 H. Kelsey Jrnl. 22 July in Kelsey Papers (1929) 30 This morning tryed to gett over y^e mouth of it but could not so..went up y^e river to Raft our selves over. 1752 J. Robson Acct. Six Years Resid. Hudson's-Bay 12 The fire wood..is intended to be rafted to the factory in the summer. 1766 Hist. Acct. Exped. against Ohio Indians 55 The carts, provisions and baggage, may be rafted over, or a bridge built. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. ii. 33 We rafted ourselves across. 1847 Knickerbocker 29 314 We crossed it on the following day, rafting over our horses and equipage with much difficulty. 1938 Q. Rev. Biol. 13 283/2 There are no animals on the Antilles too large to have been rafted across water gaps. 1966 Amer. Naturalist 100 209 If one accepts the possibility of seeds being ‘rafted’ over longer distances,..the seeds of the Hawaiian wild species, G[ossypium] sandvicense, have sufficient tolerance to salt water immersion. 1993 W. A. McDougall Let Sea make Noise 56 Every scrap of iron and canvas, not to mention all other necessities, had to be carted, rafted, sledged, and shipped from home. c. transitive. To transport by water in the form of a raft. Also in extended use: to transport in a large floating mass. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > transportation by water > transport by water [verb (transitive)] > send by ship > in form of raft raft1708 1708 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected (ed. 2) 3 Puts him [sc. Charon] upon the modern Invention, of rafting [1707 of casting] the poor Souls astern, like Water-Cask. 1768 in F. Chase Hist. Dartmouth Coll. (1891) I. 104 The stream..(a branch of Merrimack, by which logs are rafted to the sea). 1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 84 The ships have to discharge it [sc. timber] in the old dock, and it is rafted round into the harbour. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 26 Cedars out of Lebanon Which Hiram rafted down. 1921 Discovery Feb. 48/1 The water hyacinth..causes an annual loss of one-fourth of the value of the logs rafted down the river. 1961 Nature 3 June 856/2 Sial blocks..being rafted to down-welling sites. 2005 J. Diamond Collapse (2006) ix. 298 The government cleared obstacles from rivers so that logs could be floated or rafted down them to the coast. 2. intransitive. To travel on a raft, go by raft. Frequently with adverb or adverbial phrase. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > [verb (intransitive)] > in specific type of craft to barge it1599 boat?1630 canoe1732 shallop1737 raft1741 scow1749 steam1832 yacht1836 screw1840 steamer1866 gondole1874 kayak1875 sail1898 tramp1899 motor-boat1903 barge1909 hover1962 power1964 motor1968 jet-ski1978 1741 R. Hazzen Jrnl. 10 Apr. in New-Eng. Historical & Geneal. Reg. (1879) 33 330 We met with great difficulty in passing that River, first attempting to wade,..then tried to Raft. 1753 G. Washington Diary 6 Dec. (1925) I. 57 Sent our Horses a little way up French Creek to raft over and encamp. 1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 122 They cannot raft out of the old dock. 1888 Academy 34 301/2 They canoed, and rafted, and steam-boated. 1916 A. C. Laut Cariboo Trail i. 8 Thousands passed Victoria altogether and went in by pack-train from Okanagan or rafted across from Puget Sound. 1938 Daily Tel. & Morning Post 7 Jan. 6/5 There are..dozens of exciting episodes memorably visualized, like the incident of the starving men rafting to safety. 1996 China Post (Taipei) 1 May 16/7 (advt.) Raft down the rapids into the sunset. 3. a. transitive. To tie, gather, or force together in a raft. Also (now chiefly): to tie or moor (a number of usually small boats) together; cf. raft-up n. Also with up. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > form into raft(s) raft1745 1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 120 A couple of Canoes, which we brought..on purpose to raft and carry up Barreecas. 1800 P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames i. 27 These Logs are rafted in the River. 1883 J. Fraser Shanty, Forest & River Life xxix. 340 The timber is floated in single pieces down all the numerous tributaries of the Ottawa, and then ‘rafted-up’ at ‘the mouth’ of each. 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 38 Stacked with flaming spears Old Ocean shone, as swaying through the Night He rafted up his monstrous chandeliers. 1976 Yachts & Yachting 20 Aug. 353/1 In St. Peter Port I have seen yachts rafted-up almost wall-to-wall on the buoys, like the trots used to be at Cowes. 1994 Outdoor Canada May 28/1 We rafted the boats together three kilometers off the shores of Murchison Island. 2009 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 4 Dec. 4/2 The sight of the six vessels rafted together in the loch, with engines and systems stilled. b. transitive. In passive. Of waterfowl: to be gathered in a flock on the surface of a body of water. Also intransitive. Cf. raft n.¹ 4a. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [verb (intransitive)] > assemble raft1946 1946 Condor 48 274 Ordinarily they [sc. gadwalls and pintails] rafted quite apart from each other. 1978 J. A. Michener Chesapeake 665 There must have been three thousand ducks rafted there beneath a frozen late-rising moon. 1996 Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard 26 Dec. d8/2 Fast-moving storms and shifting winds cause ducks rafted on water to get up and fly periodically. 4. transitive. Originally and chiefly North American. To travel upon or cross (a body of water, esp. a river) by means of a raft. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > [verb (transitive)] > in specific type of craft skiffa1625 raft1760 boat1835 canoe1932 kayak1932 1760 R. Rogers Jrnl. 25 May (1765) 177 The river St. Francis..is very still water, and may be easily rafted where you cross it. 1808 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) ii. 119 We concluded to raft the river, which we effected with difficulty. 1873 J. McDougall G. M. McDougall (1888) 191 Rapid and dangerous rivers have been rafted. 1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. i. 17 Ready to raft the deep, Wade shallow or dive for gain. 1974 Marlboro Herald-Advocate (Bennettsville, S. Carolina) 22 Apr. 6/2 During the four day exercise, members of the 541st engineer company rafted the Rhine river and secured tactical positions. 1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 30 Jan. f8/3 There are few nooks and crannies left in the world that have not already been trekked, rafted, kayaked, ballooned. 5. a. intransitive. Of an ice floe: to be driven on top of or underneath another floe. Of ice: to pile up in overriding layers. Also with up. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [verb (intransitive)] > pile up (of ice-floe) raft1843 1843 Jrnl. Gen. Assembly Newfoundland App. 465 From the rhinding of the Trees, by the Ice, along the banks of this River, it would appear that the Ice rafts to an almost incredible height. 1874 Nature 6 Aug. 266/2 Often before a breeze of wind comes the ice rafts or squeezes, layer on layer, with a creaking sound. 1919 E. Shackleton South i. 11 In obedience to renewed pressure this young ice ‘rafts’, so forming double thicknesses of a toffee-like consistency. 1960 Jrnl. Glaciol. 3 727 Under pressure this ice characteristically rafts in a step-like formation. 1992 B. Morgan Random Passage ii. 39 Arctic ice..drifts onto the Cape in loose pans that grind together, rafting up on shore, sometimes tipping on edge like giant dinner plates. b. transitive. To force (ice) into overriding layers. Also with up. Only in passive. ΚΠ 1883 J. Hatton & M. Harvey Newfoundland iii. iii. 301 Under pressure of the storm, it frequently happens that the ice is ‘rafted’, as the sealers call it. 1916 H. Gordon Jrnl. in Labrador Parson (1972) 67 As the pressure increased, great sheets of ice were rafted up over the rocky shore and piled high and dry. 1958 Evening Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 28 Apr. 2/3 There Bozo is now, surrounded by pack ice which is being rafted by tides and frost into a jumble of pressure-ice. 1995 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 5 Feb. f11 Chunk ice was rafted up in the backwaters. †II. Senses relating to rafters. 6. transitive. To build or provide with rafters; = rafter v. 1. Cf. raft n.¹ 1. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > roof > rafter rafter1538 raft1706 1706 P. Lewis & P. Lewis Indenture 13 Sept. in L. B. Chapman York Deeds (1892) VII. f. 51 I will get and provide for my brother..the frame of a dwelling house..redy to be rafted and raised at or before the last day of May. 1804 Trans. Soc. Arts 22 70 The roof rafted and thatched by myself. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). raftv.² Brit. /rɑːft/, /raft/, U.S. /ræft/, Canadian English /ræft/ Origin: Of unknown origin. Etymology: Origin unknown. Perhaps compare earlier rafty adj. English regional (southern and south-western) and Newfoundland. transitive. To disturb, disquiet, unsettle; to rouse. Also with up. Usually in passive. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > upset or perturb [verb (transitive)] to-wendc893 mingeOE dreveOE angerc1175 sturb?c1225 worec1225 troublec1230 sturble1303 disturbc1305 movea1325 disturblec1330 drubblea1340 drovec1350 distroublec1369 tempestc1374 outsturba1382 unresta1382 stroublec1384 unquietc1384 conturb1393 mismaya1400 unquemea1400 uneasec1400 discomfita1425 smite?a1425 perturbc1425 pertrouble?1435 inquiet1486 toss1526 alter1529 disquiet1530 turmoil1530 perturbate1533 broil1548 mis-set?1553 shake1567 parbruilyiec1586 agitate1587 roil1590 transpose1594 discompose1603 harrow1609 hurry1611 obturb1623 shog1636 untune1638 alarm1649 disorder1655 begruntlea1670 pother1692 disconcert1695 ruffle1701 tempestuate1702 rough1777 caddle1781 to put out1796 upset1805 discomfort1806 start1821 faze1830 bother1832 to put aback1833 to put about1843 raft1844 queer1845 rattle1865 to turn over1865 untranquillize1874 hack1881 rock1881 to shake up1884 to put off1909 to go (also pass) through a phase1913 to weird out1970 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life in Dorset Dial. 338 The cow's a-rafted. 1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta II. xlvi. 238 My brain is all in a spin, wi' being rafted up in such a larry! 1895 T. Hardy Jude iv. iv. 290 ‘I think you are rafted, and not yourself,’ he continued. ‘Do go back and make up your mind to put up with a few whims.’ 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 11/1 Old nurses think it wrong to disturb the spirit of the dying by speaking to him, lest by doing so his spirit may be ‘rafted’, i.e. disturbed by earthly thoughts [Hants.]. 1969 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) at Raft v.² A dying person who was rafted by any member of the family would be sure to live for an extra nine days. 1982 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. 402/1 Raft, to upset, torment [citing field research by P. O'Flaherty of Long Beach in 1975]. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹c1330n.²1821v.¹1664v.²1844
随便看	manoeuvrabilities manoeuvrability manoeuvrable manoeuvre manoeuvre one's way manoeuvred manoeuvrer manoeuvrers manoeuvres manoeuvring manofallwork manofarms manoftheworldish manoftheworldism manoftheworldliness manoftheworldly manofwar manofwar bird manofwar fish manofwar hawk manofwar'sman manoir manola manoletina manolo blahnik

raftn.1

Compounds

Derivatives

raftn.2

raftv.1

raftv.2

raftn.¹

raftn.²

raftv.¹

raftv.²