to float

Examples

• All

• There's something floating in the pool.

  Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

• Those small particles can float around in the air for hours.

• If you just relax and float, your head will stay above water.

• Like right now we're just floating over a street.

• It was floating in the river.

  Parts: The Clonus Horror (1979)

• The ballast keeps the hot air balloon from floating too high or floating away.

  What Happens Later (2023)

• "When Julian and I took a balloon trip, we floated right over this place," Vivian told me.

  Fiction book (1990)

• The children enjoyed the warm day, watching their toys float in the swimming pool.

• After tossing the bottle into the lake, I was surprised to see it float away so easily.

Synonyms

D

to drift

vsto float

331 2.9

To move slowly without a clear direction, for example when air or water move something

is about being on a surface or in air rather than only being carried

F

to fly

vsto float

218 1.0

Make a kite or balloon move and float in the air

is used for being on water or in air not only for air movement

S

to swim

vsto float

133 1.0

To stay on or just below the water surface without sinking

is broader, covering staying on water or air without implying active motion

B

to buoy up

vsto float

5.0

Keep someone or something floating on water

is the general act of being on water or in air rather than supporting

Antonyms

S

to sink

258 1.0

To go down below the surface of water and become underwater

Idioms

F

to float like a butterfly

• Informal

1 6.8

To move with light, graceful steps like a butterfly

Phrasal Verbs

F

to float away

15 3.2

Move slowly through the air or water until out of sight

Compounds

R

root beer float

• US

4 2.9

A cold drink of root beer with a scoop of ice cream

I

ice-cream float

1 2.0

A cold drink with ice cream floating in soda

M

milk float

• Archaic

1 3.5

A small vehicle with an open side that delivers milk to homes

C

Carling float

• Specialized

9.9

An emergency raft on a ship for people to use if they must leave at sea

D

dead-man's float

7.0

A position for floating face down in the water with arms stretched forward to rest and breathe

F

float-type rain gage

• Specialized

7.9

A device with a float that rests on collected rain to measure how much falls

F

float-type rain gauge

• Specialized

7.3

A tool that measures rain using a float on the top of the collected water

P

prone float

6.7

A way to float by lying face down in the water with arms stretched forward to glide

P

plasterer's float

• Specialized

8.1

A flat hand tool with a handle used to smooth wet wall material like plaster or cement

How Buoyant

to hover

85 2.8

to float

645 1.0

to bob

24 2.7

to drift

331 2.9

to sink

258 1.0

to submerge

42 3.9

Surface Forms

Etymology