floater

== English == === Etymology === From float +‎ -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Compare Old English flota (“boat, ship", also "sailor, pirate”, literally “floater”), whence Middle English flote (“a fleet of ships", also, "a float, flotation device”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfləʊtə/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfloʊtəɹ/, [-ɾəɹ] Rhymes: -əʊtə(ɹ) Hyphenation: float‧er === Noun === floater (plural floaters) A person who floats. A person who physically floats in a gas or liquid. (law enforcement, slang) A corpse floating in a body of water. (figurative) A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role. A person who frequently changes where they live; a drifter, a vagrant. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagabond A person who frequently changes employment. An employee of an organization who does not have fixed tasks to do but fills in wherever needed, usually when someone else is away; also, a short-term employee; a temporary, a temp. An "extra" (male) guest at a party who is asked by the host to entertain the other (often female) guests. (slang) A person who attaches themselves to a group of people, and who repeatedly shows up at group activities even though this is undesired by the group; a hanger-on. (politics) A voter who shifts their allegiance from one political party to another, especially (US) one whose vote can be illegally purchased. (US) A person who votes illegally in various electoral districts or polling places, either under a false voter registration or under the name of a properly registered voter who has not yet voted. (US) A person, such as a delegate to a convention or a member of a legislature, who represents an irregular constituency, such as one formed by a union of the voters of two counties neither of which has a number sufficient to be allowed one (or an extra) representative of its own. (sports) A player not affiliated with a team. A thing which floats. A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid. A river mussel (genus Anodonta). A small suet dumpling put into soup. (vulgar) A piece of faeces which floats. (ophthalmology) A threadlike speck in the visual field which seems to move, possibly caused by degeneration of the vitreous humour of the eye. Synonym: musca volitans (sports) A ball that moves lightly through the air, as if floating; specifically (basketball), an early layup taken by a player moving towards the rim where, upon release, the ball floats in the air over the top of a defender before dropping softly into the hoop. (Australia) Ellipsis of pie floater (“a meat pie served floating in a bowl of thick green pea soup”). (India) A waterproof sandal. (figurative) A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating. (slang, dated) A mistake or misstep; a faux pas. Synonyms: blunder, false move, false step, stumble; see also Thesaurus:error (finance) Clipping of floating rate bond. (insurance) An insurance policy covering movable property at more than one location or which may be in transit. (prison slang) A book circulated between prisoners which is not part of the official prison library. (surfing) A manoeuvre in which a surfer transitions above the unbroken face of a wave on to the lip, or on top of the breaking section of the wave. (cricket) A spinning delivery of the ball that travels in a high arched path. (two-up) A coin which does not spin when thrown in the air. (US, law) A criminal sentence which is suspended so long as the convicted person leaves an area. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== (threadlike speck in the visual field): mote === References === === Further reading === floater (ophthalmology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia floater (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === Laforte, floe rat, florate, refloat