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root beer float

root beer float

4 2.9
A cold drink of root beer with a scoop of ice cream
  • noun
  • /ruːt bɪr floʊt/
  • US
translation icon : float de cerveza de raíz
  • Coffee after coffee, my uncle was working off a binge, and I was having a sandwich and a root beer float.
  • cream and root beer float
  • root beer float drink

And then we go to A&W; and get a a Papa Burger and a Coney Dog and a root beer float.

Examples

  • When I serve dessert, it's either homemade pudding (I like tapioca) or root beer floats.

    Blog text (12)
  • Let's get you a root beer float.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I made you guys some root beer floats.

  • I'll make root beer floats.

  • I ordered a Maid Rite, fries, and a root beer float.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • If we finished quickly, we'd get ice cream cones or root beer floats and sometimes feed ducks at the park.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • After all of that, we had to do a boot camp on Saturday, then meet up with some of my gamer buddies for root beer floats.

    Blog text (13)
  • On a hot summer day, nothing beats a root beer float topped with creamy ice cream.

  • After dinner, we all enjoyed delicious root beer floats while watching our favorite show.

  • At the local diner, I ordered a classic root beer float with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Synonyms

float
vsroot beer float
8 3.3

A drink of soda with a scoop of ice cream

is made with one particular soft drink rather than any
ice-cream soda
vsroot beer float
3 1.0

A cold drink with ice cream floating in sweet fizzy soda

uses a particular soft drink rather than a syrup flavored beverage
ice-cream float
vsroot beer float
1 2.0

A cold drink with ice cream floating in soda

uses a specific type of soft drink rather than any soda

Surface Forms

Morphology

root + beer + float

The phrase is compositionally built from 'root beer' (a type of soda) + 'float' (a soda topped with ice cream). A B1 learner who knows the noun 'float' in the soda sense and the constituents can readily infer it means a float made with root beer; the '[drink] float' pattern is productive and cross-linguistically transparent.

Etymology

Root beer float gets its name from the clear picture of a scoop of ice cream sitting on top of a glass of root beer. The ice cream actually floats on the soda, so the drink is simply called a float.