floating — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. That floats or float.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   floating buoys

2. Not fixed in position, opinion etc.; free to move or drift.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   The outcome of the forthcoming election is still unclear due to the large number of floating voters.

   In China, the large floating population has tended to gravitate to cities.

   More examples (2)

   You can drag the floating toolbars to any position on the screen.

   "And I am much mistaken if she has not some floating fancy of her own."

3. Present in the underlying phonological representation but not linked to an anchor on which it can surface.

   Usage

   • not-comparable
   • of a tone

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Historically, there was an accompanying vowel, but synchronically, a mere "floating" high tone is posited. In stage (b) this high tone causes the preceding low tone to raise to a raised-low tone via the process of low-raising. Finally, in stage (c) the floating high tone is lost.

   Two classes of suffixes beginning with [+constricted glottis] ([+c.g.]) must be distinguished: those that invariably begin with a glottal stop and those that induce the glottalization of a preceding segment. Following Kim (2003), we attribute the difference to whether the suffix begins with a full glottal stop or a floating glottal “subsegment” (Zoll 1996). The essence of the distinction is that the full glottal stops consist underlyingly of a root node linked to a [+c.g.] feature while the subsegments consist solely of a [+c.g.] specification.

Noun

1. The motion of something that floats.

2. Material that floats in a liquid.

   Usage

   • in-plural

   Examples

   Plastic mud, brownish tinted, rich in floatings.

3. The spreading of plaster on the surface of walls.

4. A veterinary dental procedure involving the filing down of sharp surfaces on a horse's teeth.

Adjective

1. borne up by or suspended in a liquid

   Examples

   the ship is still floating

   floating logs

   More examples (1)

   floating seaweed

2. continually changing especially as from one abode or occupation to another

   Synonyms

   aimlessdriftingvagabondvagrant

   Examples

   a drifting double-dealer

   the floating population

   More examples (1)

   vagrant hippies of the sixties

3. inclined to move or be moved about

   Examples

   a floating crap game

4. (of a part of the body) not firmly connected; movable or out of normal position

   Examples

   floating ribs are not connected with the sternum

   a floating kidney

5. not definitely committed to a party or policy

   Examples

   floating voters

Noun

1. the act of someone who floats on the water

   Synonyms

   natation

   Broader terms

   swimmingswim