Search the Dictionary

bag or pillow used by persons learning to swim; a life preserver. This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry. J. P. Peters.

determined; as, floating capital; a floating debt. Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island. Macaulay. Floating anchor (Naut.), a drag or sea anchor; drag sail. -- Floating battery (Mil.), a battery erected on rafts or the hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a co…

ondition; prosperity; vigor. [Archaic] The Roman monarchy, in her highest flourish, never had the like. Howell.

or nap; soft and downy. "The carpets were fluffy." Thackeray. The present Barnacle . . . had a youthful aspect, and the fluffiest little whisker, perhaps, that ever was seen. Dickens. -- Fluff"i*ness, n.

mination of an object, as the human body, by exposing it to the X rays and observing the shadow cast upon a fluorescent screen; cryptoscopy.

ng; a weak point; a frailty. A disposition radically noble and generous, clouded and overshadowed by superficial foibles. De Quincey.

To copy after; to take as an example. We had rather follow the perfections of them whom we like not, than in defects resemble them whom we love. Hooker.

Doting affection; tender liking; strong appetite, propensity, or relish; as, he had a fondness for truffles. My heart had still some foolish fondness for thee. Addison.

on; established place; basis for operation; permanent settlement; foothold. As soon as he had obtained a footing at court, the charms of his manner . . . made him a favorite. Macaulay.

-- "What went ye out for to see" Luke vii. 25. See To, prep., 4. -- O for, would that I had; may there be granted; -- elliptically expressing desire or prayer. "O for a muse of fire." Shak. -- Were it not for, or If it were not for, leaving out of account; but for the presence or action of. "Moral consideration can…

th reference to the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. (b) (Bot.) A small variety of shaddock (Citrus decumana). The name is given in different places to several varieties of Citrus fruits.

ey, etc. [Irish] "While I am to the fore." W. Collins. "How many captains in the regiment had two thousand pounds to the fore" Thackeray.

To bestow beforehand. [R.] King James had by promise foredisposed the place on the Bishop of Meath. Fuller.

Superiority; advantage; start; precedence. And, but for ceremony, such a wretch . . . Had the forehand and vantage of a king. Shak.

Domestic and foreign writers." Atterbury. Hail, foreign wonder! Whom certain these rough shades did never breed. Milton.

before it happens, or of whatever is to happen; prescience. If I foreknew, Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault. Milton.

See Forlend. [Obs.] As if that life to losse they had forelent. Spenser.

ion by a breach of promise; -- with to before the one acquiring what is forfeited. [They] had forfeited their property by their crimes. Burke. Undone and forfeited to cares forever! Shak.

To foray; to ravage; to pillage. For they that morn had forrayed all the land. Fairfax.

To address respectfully with the term forsooth. [Obs.] The captain of the "Charles" had forsoothed her, though he knew her well enough and she him. Pepys.