'Floating' definitions:

Definition of 'floating'

(from WordNet)
adjective
Borne up by or suspended in a liquid; "the ship is still floating"; "floating logs"; "floating seaweed"
adjective
Continually changing especially as from one abode or occupation to another; "a drifting double-dealer"; "the floating population"; "vagrant hippies of the sixties" [syn: aimless, drifting, floating, vagabond, vagrant]
adjective
Inclined to move or be moved about; "a floating crap game"
adjective
(of a part of the body) not firmly connected; movable or out of normal position; "floating ribs are not connected with the sternum"; "a floating kidney"
adjective
Not definitely committed to a party or policy; "floating voters"
noun
The act of someone who floats on the water [syn: floating, natation]

Definition of 'Floating'

From: GCIDE
  • Float \Float\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Floated; p. pr. & vb. n. Floating.] [OE. flotien, flotten, AS. flotian to float, swim, fr. fle['o]tan. See Float, n.]
  • 1. To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up. [1913 Webster]
  • The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast, I floated. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. 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. [1913 Webster]
  • They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • There seems a floating whisper on the hills. --Byron. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Floating'

From: GCIDE
  • Floating \Float"ing\, a.
  • 1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a wreck; floating motes in the air. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating ribs in man and some other animals. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as, floating capital; a floating debt. [1913 Webster]
  • Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
  • Floating anchor (Naut.), a drag or sea anchor; drag sail.
  • Floating battery (Mil.), a battery erected on rafts or the hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a coast or the bombardment of a place.
  • Floating bridge. (a) A bridge consisting of rafts or timber, with a floor of plank, supported wholly by the water; a bateau bridge. See Bateau. (b) (Mil.) A kind of double bridge, the upper one projecting beyond the lower one, and capable of being moved forward by pulleys; -- used for carrying troops over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort. (c) A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by means of chains which are anchored on each side of a stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels being driven by stream power. (d) The landing platform of a ferry dock.
  • Floating cartilage (Med.), a cartilage which moves freely in the cavity of a joint, and often interferes with the functions of the latter.
  • Floating dam. (a) An anchored dam. (b) A caisson used as a gate for a dry dock.
  • Floating derrick, a derrick on a float for river and harbor use, in raising vessels, moving stone for harbor improvements, etc.
  • Floating dock. (Naut.) See under Dock.
  • Floating harbor, a breakwater of cages or booms, anchored and fastened together, and used as a protection to ships riding at anchor to leeward. --Knight.
  • Floating heart (Bot.), a small aquatic plant ({Limnanthemum lacunosum}) whose heart-shaped leaves float on the water of American ponds.
  • Floating island, a dish for dessert, consisting of custard with floating masses of whipped cream or white of eggs.
  • Floating kidney. (Med.) See Wandering kidney, under Wandering.
  • Floating light, a light shown at the masthead of a vessel moored over sunken rocks, shoals, etc., to warn mariners of danger; a light-ship; also, a light erected on a buoy or floating stage.
  • Floating liver. (Med.) See Wandering liver, under Wandering.
  • Floating pier, a landing stage or pier which rises and falls with the tide.
  • Floating ribs (Anat.), the lower or posterior ribs which are not connected with the others in front; in man they are the last two pairs.
  • Floating screed (Plastering), a strip of plastering first laid on, to serve as a guide for the thickness of the coat.
  • Floating threads (Weaving), threads which span several other threads without being interwoven with them, in a woven fabric. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Floating'

From: GCIDE
  • Floating \Float"ing\, n.
  • 1. (Weaving) Floating threads. See Floating threads, above. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The second coat of three-coat plastering. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The process of rendering oysters and scallops plump by placing them in fresh or brackish water; -- called also fattening, plumping, and laying out. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Floating charge

Synonyms of 'floating'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Floating'