Tra từ float - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

float [float floats floated floating] verb, noun BrE [fləʊt] NAmE [floʊt]
verb

ON WATER/IN AIR
1. intransitive + adv./prep. to move slowly on water or in the air
Syn: ↑drift
• A group of swans floated by.
• The smell of new bread floated up from the kitchen.
•Beautiful music came floating out of the window.
•The boats were floating gently down the river.
• (figurative)An idea suddenly floated into my mind.
• (figurative)People seem to float in and out of my life.
2. intransitive to stay on or near the surface of a liquid and not sink
• Wood floats.
•~ in/on sth A plastic bag was floating in the water.
•Can you float on your back?
3. transitive to make sth move on or near the surface of a liquid
•~ sth There wasn't enough water to float the ship.
•~ sth + adv./prep. They float the logs down the river to the towns.

WALK LIGHTLY
4. intransitive + adv./prep. (literary)to walk or move in a smooth and easy way
Syn: ↑glide
•She floated down the steps to greet us.

SUGGEST IDEA
5. transitive ~ sth to suggest an idea or a plan for other people to consider
•They floated the idea of increased taxes on alcohol.

BUSINESS/ECONOMICS
6. transitive ~ sth (business)to sell shares in a company or business to the public for the first time
•The company was floated on the stock market in 2007.
•Shares were floated at 585p.
7. transitive, intransitive ~ (sth) (economics)if a government floats its country's money or allows it to float, it allows its value to change freely according to the value of the money of other countries
more at float/walk on air at ↑air _n.
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
Old English flotian (verb), of Germanic origin and related to fleet ‘move or pass quickly’, reinforced in Middle English by Old French floter, also from Germanic.

Thesaurus:
float verb I
•A group of swans floated by.
•Beautiful music came floating out of the window.
drift • • hang • • hover •
Opp: sink
float/drift/hang/hover over sth
float/hang/hover above/overhead/in the air/in the sky
a boat floats/drifts
clouds float/drift/hang/hover
Float or drift? Float places more emphasis on the idea of sth being supported on the surface of the water or in the air. Drift places more emphasis on the fact that sth is moving slowly in a particular direction, often without any control.

Example Bank:
•A few small clouds floated across the sky.
•Her voice seemed to float gently on the water.
•Her voice seemed to float on the water as gently as a slight mist.
•In the dream my feet leave the ground and I start to float upwards.
•The government decided to allow the peso to float freely.
•chunks of ice floating down the river
•pieces of wood floating in the water
•I dreamt that I was floating over the city.
•She floated down the steps to meet us.
•The couple floated across the dance floor.
•Vast masses of frogspawn floated just beneath the surface.
•We tried to make a raft but it wouldn't float.
Idiom: ↑float somebody's boat
Derived: ↑float about

noun

VEHICLE
1. a large vehicle on which people dressed in special ↑costumes are carried in a festival
•a carnival float

IN FISHING
2. a small light object attached to a ↑fishing line that stays on the surface of the water and moves when a fish has been caught
•float fishing

FOR SWIMMING
3. a light object that floats in the water and is held by a person who is learning to swim to stop them from sinking

DRINK
4. (NAmE)a drink with ice cream floating in it
•a Coke float

MONEY
5. (especially BrE)a sum of money consisting of coins and notes of low value that is given to sb before they start selling things so that they can give customers change

BUSINESS
6. = ↑flotation

Word Origin:
Old English flotian (verb), of Germanic origin and related to fleet ‘move or pass quickly’, reinforced in Middle English by Old French floter, also from Germanic.