floater

floater

English

Etymology

float +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfləʊ.tə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfloʊ.təɹ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊtə(r)

Noun

floater (plural floaters)

1. Agent noun of float; one who or that which floats.
2. An employee of a company who does not have fixed tasks to do but fills in wherever needed, usually when someone else is away.
3. A threadlike speck in the visual field that seems to move, possibly caused by degeneration of the vitreous humour.
4. An "extra" male at a dinner party, or a young friend of the hostess, whose assignment is to entertain the female guests.
5. (insurance) A policy covering property at more than one location or which may be in transit.
6. (police jargon) A floating corpse picked up from a body of water.
7. (sports) An unaffiliated player.
8. (surfing) A maneuver in which a surfer transitions above the unbroken face of the wave onto the lip, or on top of the breaking section of the wave.
9. (vulgar) A piece of faeces that floats.

   He left a floater in the toilet.

10. (slang, by extension) Someone who attaches themselves to a group of people, much to the dismay of that group, and repeatedly shows up to participate in group activities despite attempts to get rid of, or “flush,” that person.
11. (finance) A floating rate bond.
12. (two-up) A coin which does not spin when thrown in the air.

    1998: In this section "floater" means a spin in which at least 1 of the coins does not turn over in the air at least once. — Queensland government Casino Gaming Amendment Rule (No. 2) 1998

13. (Australia) A pie floater.
14. (politics) A voter who shifts from party to party, especially one whose vote can be purchased.
15. (politics, US) A person, such as a delegate to a convention or a member of a legislature, who represents an irregular constituency, such as one formed by a union of the voters of two counties neither of which has a number sufficient to be allowed a (or an extra) representative of its own.
16. (US, politics) One who votes illegally in various polling places or election districts, either under false registration made by himself or under the name of some properly registered person who has not already voted.
17. (India) A sandal.
18. A kind of river mussel (genus Anodonta).

Derived terms

• pie floater

Translations

a speck in the visual field that seems to move, possibly caused by degeneration of the vitreous humour

Greek: μυγάκι (el) n (mygáki) Icelandic: augngrugg n, flotögn f

Polish: mroczek m Portuguese: mosca volante f

See also

• mote

Anagrams

• Laforte, floe rat, refloat