float

1. 1.

   the time interval between the deposit of a check in a bank and its payment

   Broadertime interval
2. 2.

   the number of shares outstanding and available for trading by the public

   Broaderstock
3. 3.

   a drink with ice cream floating in it

   Synonymsice-cream sodaice-cream float

   Broaderdrink

   Narrowerroot beer float
4. 4.

   an elaborate display mounted on a platform carried by a truck (or pulled by a truck) in a procession or parade

   Broaderdisplay
5. 5.

   a hand tool with a flat face used for smoothing and finishing the surface of plaster or cement or stucco

   Synonymsplasterer's float

   Broaderhand tool
6. 6.

   something that floats on the surface of water

   Broaderartifact

   Narrowerbobchiplife preserverpontoonraft
7. 7.

   an air-filled sac near the spinal column in many fishes that helps maintain buoyancy

   Synonymsair bladderswim bladder

   Broadersac

Other forms of float

plural

floats·

past tense

floated·

present participle

floating·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about float

What does float mean?

float means "be in motion due to some air or water current". That is the primary sense; the word has 16 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in float?

float has 1 syllable: float. In IPA it is /ˈfloʊt/.

What is another word for float?

Close synonyms include drift, be adrift, blow, swim, ice-cream soda. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of float?

The recorded antonyms are sink.

Is float a common word?

float is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with float?

1 word rhymes with float. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.