dead-man's float
- noun
- /ˈdɛdˌmænz floʊt/
:
flotación de muerto
- During the training session, the coach emphasized the importance of mastering the dead-man's float for relaxation.
Examples
-
" You have to hold your breath well for a dead man's float, and I held mine for three and a half minutes." "Is that possible?" "Why not?"
Fiction book (1993) -
For a minute or two, he had to lie in a dead man's float to rest, and then he raised his head and started treading water slowly.
Fiction book (1990) -
It was the dead man's float! Andrew shook convulsively, his face reddened, and he couldn't stop laughing.
Fiction book (1993) -
To conserve his energy while waiting for help, he assumed a dead-man's float, face down in the water.
-
After swimming for a while, she took a break by lying in a dead-man's float, her arms extended forward.
Synonyms
A way to float by lying face down in the water with arms stretched forward to glide
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
dead-man's + float
The phrase literally combines 'dead man' and 'float' so a learner who knows those words can infer it refers to floating in a way that resembles a dead person; the core meaning (an immobile floating posture) is directly compositional. While the precise face-down/arms-forward posture is a specialized detail, the overall sense is transparently derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Dead-man's float comes from the image of a person lying face down in the water like a dead body while they float. That's why the name means a simple swimming position to 'rest' and 'save energy'.
