(v. i.) Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid,
as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the surface, or mark
the place of, something.
(v. i.) A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and
conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
(v. i.) The hollow, metallic ball of a self-acting faucet, which
floats upon the water in a cistern or boiler.
(v. i.) The cork or quill used in angling, to support the bait
line, and indicate the bite of a fish.
(v. i.) Anything used to buoy up whatever is liable to sink; an
inflated bag or pillow used by persons learning to swim; a life
preserver.
(v. i.) A float board. See Float board (below).
(v. i.) A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to
the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die.
(v. i.) The act of flowing; flux; flow.
(v. i.) A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot
deep.
(v. i.) The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of
plastering is leveled and smoothed.
(v. i.) A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
(v. i.) A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by
shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
(v. i.) A coal cart.
(v. i.) The sea; a wave. See Flote, n.
(n.) To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed
up.
(n.) To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift
along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a
fluid, or through the air.
(v. t.) To cause to float; to cause to rest or move on the
surface of a fluid; as, the tide floated the ship into the harbor.
(v. t.) To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
(v. t.) To pass over and level the surface of with a float while
the plastering is kept wet.
(v. t.) To support and sustain the credit of, as a commercial
scheme or a joint-stock company, so as to enable it to go into, or
continue in, operation.
