different between float vs skim

English

Etymology

From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-Germanic *flut?n? (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Cognate with Middle Low German vloten, vlotten (“to float, swim”), Middle Dutch vloten, Old Norse flota, Icelandic fljóta, Old English fl?otan (“to float, swim”), Ancient Greek ???? (plé?), Lithuanian plaukti, Russian ???????? (plávat?), Latin plaustrum (“wagon, cart”). Compare flow.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fl??t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /flo?t/
• Rhymes: -??t

Verb

float (third-person singular simple present floats, present participle floating, simple past and past participle floated)

1. (intransitive) Of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.

2. (transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density.

3. (intransitive) To be capable of floating.

4. (intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating

5. (intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly.

6. (intransitive) To drift gently through the air.

7. (intransitive) To move in a fluid manner.

8. (intransitive, figuratively) To circulate.

9. (intransitive, colloquial) (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.

10. (transitive) To propose (an idea) for consideration.

11. (intransitive) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
12. (intransitive, finance) (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets as opposed to by rule.

13. (transitive, finance) To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.

14. (transitive, colloquial) To extend a short-term loan to.

15. (transitive, finance) To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
    • 2005 June 21, Dewi Cooke, The Age [1],

      He [Mario Moretti Polegato] floated the company on the Milan Stock Exchange last December and sold 29 per cent of its shares, mostly to American investors.

    • 2007, Jonathan Reuvid, Floating Your Company: The Essential Guide to Going Public.
    • 2011, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, footnote i, page 269,

      As a result of this reverse acquisition, Hurlingham changed its name to Manroy plc and floated shares on the Alternative Investment Market in London.

16. (transitive) To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.
    • 1932, The Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer (volumes 35-37, page 35)

      This wire, nailed over the face of the old plaster will also reinforce any loose lath or plaster after the walls have set. Float the wall to the face of the lath first.

17. (transitive) To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.

18. (transitive) To transport by float (vehicular trailer).
19. (poker) To perform a float.
20. (computing, transitive) To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.
    • 2010, Andy Harris, HTML, XHTML and CSS All-In-One For Dummies (page 290)

      To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins.

Derived terms

• float someone's boat
• whatever floats your boat

Translations

Noun

float (plural floats)

1. A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
2. A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
3. A float board.
4. A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
5. A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.

6. An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.

7. (Britain) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 7

     As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm.

8. (finance) Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.

9. (finance, Australia, and other Commonwealth countries?) An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.
10. (banking) The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.

11. (insurance) Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.

12. (programming) A floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.
    • 2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing (page 214)

      If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.

13. A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.

14. A small sum of money put in a cashier's till at the start of business to enable change to be made.
15. (poker) A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.
16. (knitting) One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.
17. (automotive) a car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination
18. (transport) a lowboy trailer
19. (tempering) A device sending a copious stream of water to the heated surface of a bulky object, such as an anvil or die.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

20. (obsolete) The act of flowing; flux; flow.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

21. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)

22. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

23. (Britain, dated) A coal cart.
24. A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
25. (computing) A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.
    • 2007, Michael Bowers, Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns (page 93)

      When a float cannot fit next to another float, it moves down below it. A float's position, size, padding, borders, and margins affect the position of adjacent floats and adjacent inline content.

Synonyms

• (Shares offered to the public:): initial public offering

Derived terms

• floatplane

Translations

References

Anagrams

• aloft, flota

English

Etymology

From Middle English skemen, skymen, variants of scumen, from Old French escumer (“to remove scum”), from escume (“froth, foam”), from Frankish *sk?m (“froth, foam”), from Proto-Germanic *sk?maz (“foam”), from Proto-Indo-European *skew- (“to cover, conceal”). See scum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Verb

skim (third-person singular simple present skims, present participle skimming, simple past and past participle skimmed)

1. (intransitive) To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
2. (transitive) To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
   • 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table

     Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean.

3. To hasten along with superficial attention.

   • They skim over a science in a very night superficial survey.

4. To put on a finishing coat of plaster.
5. (transitive) To throw an object so it bounces on water.

6. (intransitive) To ricochet.
7. (transitive) To read quickly, skipping some detail.

8. (transitive) To scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface
9. (transitive) To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying on it, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface.

10. (transitive) To clear a liquid from (scum or substance floating or lying on it), especially the cream that floats on top of fresh milk.

11. To steal money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
    • 2006, Herbert Snyder, Small Change, Big Problems (page 48)

      Obviously, the longer cash sits around before being recorded, the more likely it is that a skimming fraud will occur.

    • 2009, Tracy L. Coenen, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide (page 109)

      […] take this money without entering anything into the record-keeping system, thereby accomplishing a theft by skimming.

12. To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.
13. (intransitive) To become coated over.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

skim (not comparable)

1. (of milk) Having lowered fat content.

Derived terms

• skim milk

Translations

Noun

skim (countable and uncountable, plural skims)

1. A cursory reading, skipping the details.
   • 2012, John Friend, Allen Hickling, Planning Under Pressure (page xxii)

     For a first quick appreciation of the approach, we recommend a fast reading of Chapter 1, then a skim through the figures of the next two chapters — glancing at the definitions of key concepts that appear below the figures in Chapters 2 and 3.

2. (informal) Skim milk.
   • 2010, Gary G. Kindley, Growing Older Without Fear: The Nine Qualities of Successful Aging

     Two percent milk has only a fraction less fat than whole milk, so unless you are feeding a child or someone whose diet requires whole milk, skim is best.

3. The act of skimming.
   • 1969, Newsweek (volume 74, page 75)

     Then you could jump 150 years and enjoy a skim across the Solent in Britain's remarkable Hovercraft.

4. That which is skimmed off.
5. Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
   • 1989, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse at Federally Funded Wastewater Treatment Construction Projects (volume 4)

     This potential is further increased by the ease of passing on the costs of corruption and racketeering to consumers; a skim of only one percent of a construction project can amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Descendants

• ? Indonesian: skim

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch schim, from Middle Dutch schim, schem, from Old Dutch *skim, *skimo, from Proto-Germanic *skimaz, *skimô (“shine; light”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk?m/

Noun

skim (plural skimme)

1. A shade, a shadow, a spectre.

Indonesian

Etymology

From English skim.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s(?)k?m/

Noun

skim (first-person possessive skimku, second-person possessive skimmu, third-person possessive skimnya)

1. Skim milk.

Malay

Etymology

From English scheme.

Noun

skim (plural skim-skim, informal 1st possessive skimku, impolite 2nd possessive skimmu, 3rd possessive skimnya)

1. scheme.

Alternative forms

• skema (Indonesia)