different between float vs wharf

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 wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek ?????? (karpós, “wrist”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: wôrf, IPA^(key): /w??f/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: wôf, IPA^(key): /w??f/
• (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwôrf, IPA^(key): /hw??f/.

In New Zealand, even those who distinguish wine and whine are likely to pronounce as /w??f/.

• Rhymes: -??(?)f

Noun

wharf (plural wharves or wharfs)

1. A man-made landing place for ships on a shore or river bank.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea.

   • 1842, Alfred Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott

     Out upon the wharfs they came, / Knight and burgher, lord and dame.

2. The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea.

Synonyms

• (landing place): dock; quay

Hyponyms

• (landing place): jetty; pier; staithe, staith (Northern England)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wharf (third-person singular simple present wharfs, present participle wharfing, simple past and past participle wharfed)

1. (transitive) To secure by a wharf.
2. (transitive) To place on a wharf.

See also

• dock

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wherf, wharfe, warrf, wharghfe

Etymology

From Old English hwearf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?arf/

Noun

wharf (plural wharves)

1. wharf

Derived terms

• wharfage

Descendants

• English: wharf
• Scots: wharf

References

• “wharf, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-12-12.