Float \Float\ (fl[=o]t), n.[OE. flote ship, boat, fleet, AS. flota ship, fr. fle['o]tan to float; akin to D. vloot fleet, G. floss raft, Icel. floti float, raft, fleet, Sw. flotta. [root] 84. See Fleet, v. i., and cf. Flotilla, Flotsam, Plover.]

1. 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. Specifically:
   (a) A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
   (b) The hollow, metallic ball of a self-acting faucet, which floats upon the water in a cistern or boiler.
   (c) The cork or quill used in angling, to support the bait line, and indicate the bite of a fish.
   (d) Anything used to buoy up whatever is liable to sink; an inflated bag or pillow used by persons learning to swim; a life preserver.

This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry. --J. P. Peters.

2. A float board. See Float board (below).

3. (Tempering) A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die. --Knight.

4. The act of flowing; flux; flow. [Obs.]

--Bacon.

5. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep. [Obs.]

--Mortimer.

6. (Plastering) The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.

7. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner. --Knight.

8. A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.

9. A coal cart. [Eng.]

--Simmonds.

10. The sea; a wave. See Flote, n.

Float board, one of the boards fixed radially to the rim of an undershot water wheel or of a steamer's paddle wheel; -- a vane.

Float case (Naut.), a caisson used for lifting a ship.

Float copper or gold (Mining), fine particles of metallic copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to be lost.

Float ore, water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop. --Raymond.

Float stone (Arch.), a siliceous stone used to rub stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface.

Float valve, a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See Float, 1
   (b) .

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Float \Float\, v. t.

1. 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.

Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock. --Southey.

2. To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.

Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands. --Dryden.

3. (Plastering) To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.

4. 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. --Milton.

Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast, I floated. --Dryden.

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.

They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. --Pope.

There seems a floating whisper on the hills. --Byron.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)