floating

Pluralfloatings (some meanings)

1. 1
   adjective

   Resting on top of water or in the air without sinking or falling.

   Like a leaf that stays on top of a pond instead of sinking.

   Children pointed at the floating leaves drifting down the river.

   A floating dock rose and fell gently with the tide.

   Similarbuoyant

   Oppositesunken

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of float. Use this form for something happening right now.

   The raft kept floating downstream long after we let go.

   The balloon was floating just above the rooftops.

   Note
3. 3
   adjective

   Not fixed in one place or one opinion, and free to move or change.

   Like a small boat with no rope, free to drift anywhere.

   A floating exchange rate changes with the market each day.

   He held floating opinions that shifted with every conversation.

   Similaruncommitted, undecided, flexible

   Oppositefixed

   Note
4. 4
   noununcountable

   The gentle movement of something resting on water or in the air.

   Like the soft bobbing of a cork on the surface of water.

   The slow floating of the raft made everyone sleepy.

   We watched the lazy floating of leaves across the pond.

   Similardrifting

5. 5
   noununcountableplural

   Bits of solid stuff that rest on top of a liquid instead of sinking.

   Like the foam that sits on top of a cup of hot chocolate.

   The cook skimmed the floating off the top of the broth.

   A thin layer of floating gathered along the edge of the pond.

   Similarflotsam

   Note
6. 6
   adjective

   In the study of speech sounds, describing a feature that is not joined to any single sound in its word part.

   Like a sticker that hasn't been pressed onto any page yet.

   Students learned how a floating tone appears only when a suffix is added.

   A floating feature can attach itself to a nearby sound under the right conditions.

   Note
7. 7
   noununcountable

   The work of spreading plaster smoothly and evenly over the surface of a wall.

   Like spreading butter evenly across a slice of bread.

   The plasterer finished the floating before lunch.

   A careful floating gives the wall an even base for paint.

8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The filing down of sharp edges on a horse's teeth by a vet.

   Like filing down a rough nail edge so it stops scratching.

   The vet scheduled a floating for the old mare next week.

   Regular floating keeps the horse able to chew its feed properly.

   Note

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