1
as in to hover
to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air
a canoe floating down the river particles of dust floating in the air
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to wander
to move about from place to place aimlessly
lost touch with a childhood friend who spent much of his adult life floating from place to place
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in dock
a structure used by boats and ships for taking on or landing cargo and passengers
the crew put the cargo on the float before heading back down the river
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of float
Robin Romm, The Atlantic, 2 May 2026
There are many charter boat tours and even a floating tiki hut adventure that also encourage humans to bring their pets.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 May 2026
Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2026
Three people were rescued Wednesday off the northern Outer Banks, after winds blew their floats more than a mile away from the coast, the Corolla Fire & Rescue Squad reported in an April 22 news release.
—Mark Price
april 23, Charlotte Observer, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for float
Verb
Whale bodies are meant to float, and once ashore, the weight of their blubber can crush their internal organs.
—Robin Romm, The Atlantic, 2 May 2026
There are many charter boat tours and even a floating tiki hut adventure that also encourage humans to bring their pets.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 May 2026
Noun
On particularly hot summer days, order a root beer float or banana split to cool off.
—Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2026
Three people were rescued Wednesday off the northern Outer Banks, after winds blew their floats more than a mile away from the coast, the Corolla Fire & Rescue Squad reported in an April 22 news release.
—Mark Price
april 23, Charlotte Observer, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for float
Recent Examples of Synonyms for float
Verb
-
Still, the situation continues to hover over the club.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 May 2026
-
Global crude prices hovered between $60 and $70 for most of 2025.—
Camila Domonoske,
NPR,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
Mira wanted to know who had dispatched him, but the boy wandered off to a playground structure, singing Jimmy Eat World to himself.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
The rules required residents to use bear-resistant trash containers as wildlife officials determined bears, typically shy, boldly wandered into neighborhoods in search of left-overs in garbage bins.—
Stephen Hudak,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Canary Wharf, formerly grim docks and working-class housing blocks in eastern London, has been transformed into a mammoth global commercial center.—
Arthur I. Cyr,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Thousands gathered on shipping docks and downtown streets across Chicago, Detroit and Washington in 1860 for a chance to catch a glimpse of Albert Edward, the prince of Wales.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
When the Jules Verne Trophy was established in 1990, the target time for sailing non-stop around the world was 80 days, echoing the adventures of Phileas Fogg in Verne’s novel Around the World in 80 Days.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
7 May 2026
-
The events of the Clearances catalyze the action in this novel, which begins with John, a Presbyterian minister, having accepted a commission to sail to a remote island and evict its last tenant.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
At least 32 wolves are roaming Colorado after two rounds of releases and last year’s breeding season, which produced at least 14 pups, according to Brenna Cassidy, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s wolf monitoring data coordinator.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
7 May 2026
-
By the time Turner purchased his first bison in 1976, the species was in better shape, but populations were still far below their peak, when tens of millions once roamed the Great Plains.—
Drew Kann,
AJC.com,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
Mark Dennis, a member of Auckland Council's Rodney Local Board, told the newspaper the man was fishing with his family on the wharf and was a good swimmer.—
Adam England,
PEOPLE,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Morris felt a sense of belonging in the city that did not belong, and on the wharf that morning laid the foundations of a whole career exploring nostalgia and its yearnings.—
Sara Wheeler,
Big Think,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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April’s list includes tracking Roman ship repairs, the discovery that mushrooms can detect human urine, crushing soda cans for science, and the physics of why dolphins can swim so fast.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
2 May 2026
-
The rescuers were going to inflate airbags underneath the animal, but then the water level rose, and one morning the whale began to swim.—
Jessica Camille Aguirre,
New Yorker,
2 May 2026
Verb
-
The staircase to the second floor had a stair lift, and into my head drifted an image of an elderly widow, slowly ascending to her bedroom after eating alone, her kitchen overflowing with porcelain and crystal reminders of dinner parties long ago.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 May 2026
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Instead of splashing down or drifting under parachutes, the vehicle uses a lifting-body design (without wings) and will land under a steerable parafoil for a runway-style touchdown — a flight system unlike any that has matured to operability on a spacecraft to date.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Float.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/float. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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