This reform bill . . . had been used as a float
by the conservative ministry. --J. P.
Peters.
2. A float board. See {Float board} (below).
3. (Tempering) A contrivance for affording a copious stream
of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk,
as an anvil or die. --Knight.
4. The act of flowing; flux; flow. [Obs.] --Bacon.
5. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot
deep. [Obs.] --Mortimer.
6. (Plastering) The trowel or tool with which the floated
coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.
7. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
--Knight.
8. A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers
for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
9. A coal cart. [Eng.] --Simmonds.
10. The sea; a wave. See {Flote}, n.
{Float board}, one of the boards fixed radially to the rim of
an undershot water wheel or of a steamer's paddle wheel;
-- a vane.
{Float case} (Naut.), a caisson used for lifting a ship.
{Float} {copper or gold} (Mining), fine particles of metallic
copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to
be lost.
{Float ore}, water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein
material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop.
--Raymond.
{Float stone} (Arch.), a siliceous stone used to rub
stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface.
{Float valve}, a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See
{Float}, 1
(b) .
Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock.
--Southey.
2. To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands. --Dryden.
3. (Plastering) To pass over and level the surface of with a
float while the plastering is kept wet.
4. To support and sustain the credit of, as a commercial
scheme or a joint-stock company, so as to enable it to go
into, or continue in, operation.
The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground.
--Milton.
Three blustering nights, borne by the southern
blast, I floated. --Dryden.
2. To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to
drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on
the surface of a fluid, or through the air.
They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the
wind. --Pope.
There seems a floating whisper on the hills.
--Byron.