afloat

== English == === Etymology === From a- +‎ float. === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): /əˈfloʊt/ (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈfləʊt/ enPR: ə-flōtˈ Rhymes: -əʊt === Adverb === afloat (not comparable) In or into a state of floating. In, or while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water; at sea. Antonym: ashore Under water (bearing floating objects). Synonym: awash 1695, Edmund Gibson (translator), Camden’s Britannia, London: A. Swalle, “Staffordshire,”[5] […] it [the River Dove] overflows and lays the meadows afloat in April, like another Nile. (figurative, of ideas, information, etc.) In or into circulation or currency. (obsolete, figurative, of an emotional state) In or into a condition of stimulation, arousal, confusion, bewilderment, etc. Synonym: at sea === Adjective === afloat (not comparable) Floating. In, or found while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water. Antonym: ashore Floating in the air; flowing freely; not tied, braided, etc. (of hair or clothing) Covered with water, bearing floating objects. Synonyms: awash, flooded (figurative) Covered, overspread, filled (with or in something). Synonyms: alive, awash (of an organization) Having just enough resources to continue to operate; barely able to pay expenses; (of a private individual, family, etc.) keeping one's head above water. Synonyms: on one's feet, solvent Antonyms: bankrupt, insolvent (figurative, of ideas, information, etc.) Believed or talked about by many people; being passed from person to person. Synonyms: circulating, in circulation, current (obsolete, figurative, of an emotional state) Stimulated, aroused, activated. (obsolete, figurative) In a state of confusion, bewilderment, or distraction. Synonyms: at sea, bewildered, confused, distracted 1789, Edward Gibbon, letter to Lord Sheffield dated August 1789, in Miscellaneous Works, London: A. Strahan et al., 1796, p. 201,[24] I know not what to say; my mind is all afloat; yet you will not reproach me with caprice or inconstancy. ==== Usage notes ==== As an adjective, afloat can be used only postpositively: The cardboard ships were afloat in the bathtub, or The cardboard ships, afloat in the bathtub, were soon waterlogged; but not *The afloat toys soon sank because they were made of cardboard. In that context, floating can be used instead. ==== Translations ==== === Preposition === afloat (obsolete) Floating upon. early 1600s, John Webster and William Rowley, The Thracian Wonder, London: Thomas Johnson, 1661, Act I, Scene 1,[26] But Huswife, as for you, / You with your Brat, wee’l send afloat the Main,