Floating \Float"ing\, n. The process of rendering oysters and scallops plump by placing them in fresh or brackish water; -- called also fattening, plumping, and laying out.

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)
 

Floating \Float"ing\, a.

1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a wreck; floating motes in the air.

2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating ribs in man and some other animals.

3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as, floating capital; a floating debt.

Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island. --Macaulay.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Floating \Float"ing\, n.

1. (Weaving) Floating threads. See Floating threads, above.

2. The second coat of three-coat plastering. --Knight.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)