floater

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float·er

(flō′tər)

1. One that floats or is capable of floating.

2. One who wanders; a drifter.

3. An employee who is reassigned from job to job or shift to shift within an operation.

4. One who votes illegally in different polling places.

5. An insurance policy that protects movable property in transit or regularly subject to use in varying places.

6. Slang A corpse found floating in a body of water.

7. A deposit of material in the vitreous humor of the eye, usually consisting of aggregations of cells or proteins that have detached from the retina, perceived as a spot or thread in the visual field.

8. A knuckleball.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

floater

(ˈfləʊtə)

1. a person or thing that floats

2. (Physiology) any of a number of dark spots that appear in one's vision as a result of dead cells or fragments in the lens or vitreous humour of the eye

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

a. a person of no fixed political opinion

b. a person who votes illegally in more than one district at one election

c. a voter who can be bribed

4. (Insurance) insurance Also called: floating policy US and Canadian a policy covering loss or theft of or damage to movable property, such as jewels or furs, regardless of its location

5. informal US a person who often changes employment, residence, etc; drifter

6. (Minerals) Austral a loose gold- or opal-bearing rock

7. (Cookery) Austral (esp in Adelaide) a meat pie in a plate of pea soup

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

float•er

(ˈfloʊ tər)

n.

1. a person or thing that floats.

2. a person who is continually changing his or her place of abode, employment, etc.; drifter.

3. an employee without a fixed job assignment.

4. a person who fraudulently votes, usu. for pay, in different places in the same election.

5. a territorial animal that has been forced into marginal habitats.

6. a speck or string that appears to be drifting across the eye just outside the line of vision.

7. an insurance policy that covers movable personal property.

[1710–20]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	floater - spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humor and lens; "floaters seem to drift through the field of vision" musca volitans, muscae volitantes, spots symptom - (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease
	2.	floater - a debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills) certificate of indebtedness, debt instrument, obligation - a written promise to repay a debt
	3.	floater - a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support drifter, vagrant, vagabond beachcomber - a vagrant living on a beach have-not, poor person - a person with few or no possessions sundowner - a tramp who habitually arrives at sundown hobo, tramp, bum - a disreputable vagrant; "a homeless tramp"; "he tried to help the really down-and-out bums" bird of passage, roamer, rover, wanderer - someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
	4.	floater - an employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed employee - a worker who is hired to perform a job
	5.	floater - a voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election elector, voter - a citizen who has a legal right to vote
	6.	floater - a swimmer who floats in the water bather, natator, swimmer - a person who travels through the water by swimming; "he is not a good swimmer"
	7.	floater - an object that floats or is capable of floating object, physical object - a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow; "it was full of rackets, balls and other objects" berg, iceberg - a large mass of ice floating at sea; usually broken off of a polar glacier
	8.	floater - an insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewelry) regardless of its location floating policy insurance policy, insurance, policy - written contract or certificate of insurance; "you should have read the small print on your policy"

Translations

fondatore lavoratore itinerante persona che galleggia titolo al portatore vagabondo

floater

n (in the eye) mosca volante, pequeños puntos o nubes que se mueven en el campo visual

References in classic literature ?

Thus the spear becomes 'the slaughter-shaft'; fighting 'hand-play'; the sword 'the leavings of the hammer' (or 'of the anvil'); and a ship 'the foamy-necked floater.' These kennings add much imaginative suggestiveness to the otherwise over-terse style, and often contribute to the grim irony which is another outstanding trait.

View in context

In Experiment 1, 120 subjects were classified into Group 1 (one floater) and 70 in Group 2 (multiple floaters) and all were given 2 slices of pineapple during the three-month period.

Eating pineapple clears up eye floaters: Taiwanese study

--RBC Municipal Floater Certificates (Floater Certificates) Series E-128 'AA'/'F1+'/Stable Outlook;

Fitch Rates RBC Municipal Products, LLC Trust, Series E-128

It is a 600 meter long floater, with a skirt underneath it for the entire length.

The Ocean Cleanup is launching a giant floater to tackle the great Pacific garbage patch

A The spot you're seeing is called a floater, but don't panic: These usually aren't a cause for alarm.

Floaters

We often encounter floater patients whose levels of distress are out of proportion with the severity of the floaters and very nervous for their floater symptoms.

Psychological Distress in Patients with Symptomatic Vitreous Floaters

Some parts of the dredge floater assembly retrieved from the Zambales sea and towed to the capital town of Iba have found their way into a local junk shop, despite efforts from the provincial government to keep the objects for auction.

Dredge floaters end up in Zambales junkyard

Progressive rock band Floater returns to its city of origin today for an 8 p.m.

BRIEFLY MUSIC

If the purchaser does not take steps to procure floater coverage at that point, there might not be any first party coverage on the shipment until it arrives as the construction site.

Mind the gap

"Elegy for the Floater" explores the human elements of love, death, and life, with a primary focus on healing from psychological damage inflicted by the sudden suicide of a loved one.