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to float

to float

13 7.9
To let a country's money change value freely in markets
  • verb
  • /floʊt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dejar flotar
  • To stop this, even countries with floating currencies have to raise interest rates.
  • floating rates
  • floating exchange rate
  • floating currency

And now we have the alternative to the gold standard is floating currencies.

Examples

  • Conventional wisdom among elites holds that most countries should opt for floating rates.

    Academic text (1999)
  • China maintains an old-fashioned unconvertible, pegged currency and refuses to let it float free on the international currency market.

    Academic text (2008)
  • There is general consensus that China could not actually manage a floating exchange rate regime with an open capital account.

    Academic text (2004)
  • And now we have the alternative to the gold standard is floating currencies.

  • Most major currencies float freely, and their values are adjusted constantly and instantaneously.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The activist view, however, rejects floating rates because they can permit large, persistent current-account deficits.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The United States wants China to let its currency, the yuan, float in relation to the dollar.

  • The government decided to let the euro float freely against other currencies.

Antonyms

75 4.3

To become steady and stop changing

to peg
  • Specialized
8 6.6

To fix a price or exchange rate to another currency

Idioms

1 6.8

To move with light, graceful steps like a butterfly

Phrasal Verbs

15 3.2

Move slowly through the air or water until out of sight

Compounds

4 2.9

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

A cold drink with ice cream floating in soda

milk float
  • Archaic
1 3.5

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

Carling float
  • Specialized
9.9

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

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

float-type rain gage
  • Specialized
7.9

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

float-type rain gauge
  • Specialized
7.3

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

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

plasterer's float
  • Specialized
8.1

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

How Flexible

to float
  • Specialized
13 7.9
to peg
  • Specialized
8 6.6

Surface Forms

float infinitive
floated past
floated past participle
floating present participle
floats third person singular

Etymology

To float a currency means to let its value move freely in the market rather than fixing it, and this use comes from the old idea flotan 'to float' — to let something move instead of holding it steady.