The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Floating \Float"ing\, a.
1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a
wreck; floating motes in the air.
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2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating
ribs in man and some other animals.
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3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as,
floating capital; a floating debt.
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Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been
withdrawn in great masses from the island.
--Macaulay.
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Floating anchor (Naut.), a drag or sea anchor; drag sail.
Floating battery (Mil.), a battery erected on rafts or the
hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a coast or the
bombardment of a place.
Floating bridge.
(a) A bridge consisting of rafts or timber, with a floor
of plank, supported wholly by the water; a bateau
bridge. See Bateau.
(b) (Mil.) A kind of double bridge, the upper one
projecting beyond the lower one, and capable of being
moved forward by pulleys; -- used for carrying troops
over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort.
(c) A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by
means of chains which are anchored on each side of a
stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels
being driven by stream power.
(d) The landing platform of a ferry dock.
Floating cartilage (Med.), a cartilage which moves freely
in the cavity of a joint, and often interferes with the
functions of the latter.
Floating dam.
(a) An anchored dam.
(b) A caisson used as a gate for a dry dock.
Floating derrick, a derrick on a float for river and harbor
use, in raising vessels, moving stone for harbor
improvements, etc.
Floating dock. (Naut.) See under Dock.
Floating harbor, a breakwater of cages or booms, anchored
and fastened together, and used as a protection to ships
riding at anchor to leeward. --Knight.
Floating heart (Bot.), a small aquatic plant (Limnanthemum
lacunosum) whose heart-shaped leaves float on the water
of American ponds.
Floating island, a dish for dessert, consisting of custard
with floating masses of whipped cream or white of eggs.
Floating kidney. (Med.) See Wandering kidney, under
Wandering.
Floating light, a light shown at the masthead of a vessel
moored over sunken rocks, shoals, etc., to warn mariners
of danger; a light-ship; also, a light erected on a buoy
or floating stage.
Floating liver. (Med.) See Wandering liver, under
Wandering.
Floating pier, a landing stage or pier which rises and
falls with the tide.
Floating ribs (Anat.), the lower or posterior ribs which
are not connected with the others in front; in man they
are the last two pairs.
Floating screed (Plastering), a strip of plastering first
laid on, to serve as a guide for the thickness of the
coat.
Floating threads (Weaving), threads which span several
other threads without being interwoven with them, in a
woven fabric.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Drag \Drag\, n. [See Drag, v. t., and cf. Dray a cart, and
1st Dredge.]
1. The act of dragging; anything which is dragged.
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2. A net, or an apparatus, to be drawn along the bottom under
water, as in fishing, searching for drowned persons, etc.
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3. A kind of sledge for conveying heavy bodies; also, a kind
of low car or handcart; as, a stone drag.
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4. A heavy coach with seats on top; also, a heavy carriage.
[Collog.] --Thackeray.
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5. A heavy harrow, for breaking up ground.
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6.
(a) Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's
progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; esp., a
canvas bag with a hooped mouth, so used. See Drag
sail (below).
(b) Also, a skid or shoe, for retarding the motion of a
carriage wheel.
(c) Hence, anything that retards; a clog; an obstacle to
progress or enjoyment.
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My lectures were only a pleasure to me, and no
drag. --J. D.
Forbes.
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7. Motion affected with slowness and difficulty, as if
clogged. "Had a drag in his walk." -- Hazlitt.
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8. (Founding) The bottom part of a flask or mold, the upper
part being the cope.
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9. (Masonry) A steel instrument for completing the dressing
of soft stone.
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10. (Marine Engin.) The difference between the speed of a
screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the
ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects
of the different floats of a paddle wheel. See Citation
under Drag, v. i., 3.
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Drag sail (Naut.), a sail or canvas rigged on a stout
frame, to be dragged by a vessel through the water in
order to keep her head to the wind or to prevent drifting;
-- called also drift sail, drag sheet, drag anchor,
sea anchor, floating anchor, etc.
Drag twist (Mining), a spiral hook at the end of a rod for
cleaning drilled holes.
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