flitting 
The schip-men, sone in the morning, 
lursyt on twa hors tharc //'/""///. 
\\'>mti''n, viii. 3S. (Jamieson.) 
A moonlight flitting, a secret removal from a place, 
as to avoid paying one's debts. LC'otli>q. ] 
"Depend upon it," and he winked confidentially, "hr 
will smell a rat, and make a moonlight flittimj of it, and 
we shall never hear of him any more." 
Mrs. Craik, .Mistress and Maid, xvii. 
fittingly (flit'ing-li), adv. In a flitting manner, 
flitty (flit'i), a. [<flifl + -yi.] Unstable ; flut- 
tering. [Archaic.] 
Busying their brains in the mysterious toys 
Of ftittie motion. 
Dr. II. Store, Psychathanasia, I. i. 11. 
flix 1 (fliks), i. [Of obscure dial, origin. There 
is nothing to connect this, as has been sug- 
gested, with fax, AS. feax, which means only 
the hair of the (human) head (see fax), or with 
flax, AS. fleax, which does not mean either hair 
or fur.] If. Down; fur; especially, the fur of 
a hare. 
With his loll'd tongue he faintly licks his prey ; 
His warm breath blows hernia: up as she flies. 
Drydeti. 
2. Muffiness; waviness, as of hair or fur. 
[Rare.] 
But she had her great gold hair, 
Hair, such a wonder ofjiix and floss, 
freshness and fragrance floods of it, too ! 
Browning, Gold Hair : a Legend of Pornic. 
flix 2 t (fliks), H. [Early mod. E., < ME. flix, var. 
of flux, q. v. ] A flux. 
And loo ! a womman that suffride the flix or rennyge of 
blood twelve yeer, cam to behynde. Wyd\f, Mat. ix. 20. 
What with the burning fever, and the fixe, 
Of sixtie men there scant returned sixe. 
Sir J. Uarington, tr. of Ariosto, xxxiii. 13. 
flixweed (fliks' wed), n. A species of cress, the 
Sisymbrfum Sopltia, formerly used in dysentery. 
See fluxweed. 
flot, . [ME. flo, abbr. of flon, flan, < AS. flan, 
an arrow: see flone.~\ An arrow. 
Robyn bent his joly bowe, 
Therin he set a flo. 
Robyn and Oandelyn (Child's Ballads, V. 40). 
He schote him to strenge dethe with wel kene Ho. 
St. Christopher, 1. 207. 
float (flot), v. [Early mod. E. also flote; < ME. 
flotien, < AS. flotian (rare), float, (fleotan (pp. 
"floten) = MLG. vloten, vlotten = E. flee ft, float. 
Cf. OD. vloten, vlotten, D. vlotten, intr. float, tr. 
cause to float, transport, = OHG. flozzan, MHG. 
vloeeen, vloetzen, G. flossen, fliitzen, tr., float, in- 
fuse, instil, = Iae\. flota, tr., float, launch. The 
related words are numerous: see the noun. 
Cf. F. flatter = It. flottare, float, also fluctuate, 
waver, = Sp.flotar, float; F.flot, m., a wave, 
billow, surge, a crowd, multitude, the tide, a 
float, = It. fiotto, a wave, billow, flood, tide, 
fury, frotto and frotta, a crowd, multitude, 
troop; F.flotte, f., a fleet, a float, a buoy, OF. 
flote, a fleet, a multitude (> ME. flote, a mul- 
titude), = Sp. flota, a fleet, a multitude (> E. 
flotilla, q. v.), = Pg./roto, a fleet, etc.: words 
which owe their origin to L. fliictuare, rise in 
waves, be driven hither and thither, waver, 
hesitate, < fluctns, a wave, billow, surge, com- 
motion, etc., but have taken in part the forms 
and the senses ('float, a float, a buoy, a fleet,' 
etc.) of the Teut. words, which are not related 
to the L. fluctns, etc. : see fluctuate.] I. tn- 
trans. 1. To rest on the surface of water or 
other liquid, with or without movement ; more 
commonly, to be buoyed up by water and moved 
by its motion alone. 
Thys tree aroos out of the water and floted aboue the 
water. Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 155. 
Vespasian for a tryall caused divers to be cast in [the 
Dead Sea], bound hand and foot, \fhofloted as if supported 
by some spirit Sandys, Travailes, p. 110. 
The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. 
Milton, P. L., xi. 850. 
Curzola does not float upon the waters ; it soars above 
them. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 204. 
2. To rest or move in or as if in a liquid me- 
dium ; be or appear to be buoyed up, moved, or 
carried along by or with the aid of a surround- 
ing element : as, clouds, motes, feathers, etc., 
float in the air; odors float on the breeze; 
strains of music float on the wind. 
Stretch their broad plumes, and float upon the wind. 
Pope. 
When night fell, the music of the city band came floating 
over the water. Froude, Sketches, p. 98. 
The dancing-girls of .Samarcand 
Float in like mists from Fairy-land. 
T. B. Aldrich, When the Sultan Goes to Ispahan. 
All around 
Floated a delicate sweet scent, 
As though the wind o'er blossoms went. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 109. 
2274 
\Vitli1ii-- 
Round his rosy ample face. 
Whittier, The Sycamores. 
3. To drift about fortuitously; be moved or 
carried along aimlessly or vaguely; go and 
ooino passively : as, a rumor has floated hither ; 
confused notions floating in the mind. 
Every thing floats loose and disjointed on the surface 
of their mind, like leaves scattered and blown about on 
the face of the waters. 
H. Blair, Works, II. ii. 
4. In weaving, to pass, as a thread, crosswise 
under or over several threads without inter- 
secting them. Thus, in twilled or diapered stuff, a 
thread of the weft will float that is, pass under or over 
several threads of the warp. 
When either of the white or black threads disappear on 
one side of the cloth, they are not found floating under- 
neath, but are being woven into another cloth. 
A. Barlow, Weaving, p. 104. 
II. trans. 1. To cause to float ; buoy; cause 
to be conveyed on the surface of a liquid: as, 
the tide floated the ship into the harbor; to 
float timber down a river. 2. To cover with 
water; flood; irrigate. 
In some countries the overflow of rivers engenders 
mushromes, and namely, at Mytilene, where (by report) 
they will not otherwise grow but upon floten grounds. 
Hammond, tr. of Pliny, xix. 3. 
Proud Pactolusy!oa( the fruitful lands. Dryden, JEaeM. 
A grass abundant iafloated or irrigated meadows. Pryor. 
3. In oyster-culture, to place on a float for fat- 
tening. See float, n., \ (e). 4. In plastering, 
to pass over and level the surface of, as plaster, 
with a float frequently dipped in water. 
Work which consists of three coats is called floated : it 
takes its name from an instrument called a float, which is 
an implement or rule moved in every direction on the 
plaster while It is soft, for giving a perfectly plane sur- 
face to the second coat of work. 
Workshop Receipts, 1st ser., p. 122. 
5. In ceram., to wash over or cover with a 
thin coat, as of varnish, or with enamel. 6. In 
white-lead making, to subject to the process of 
floating. See floating, n., 4. 7. In farriery, 
to file, as the teeth of horses, especially old 
horses. 
The old horse may be made to live . . . years more, if 
his front teeth are flled ... so that the grinders can do 
their natural work. . . . Many an old horse will renew its 
life if its teeth are floated, as the process Is called. 
New York Weekly Tribune, Dec. 28, 1886. 
8. To set afloat ; give course or effect to ; pro- 
cure recognition or support for: used of finan- 
cial operations : as, to float stocks or bonds ; to 
float a scheme by raising funds to carry it on. 
The floating of loans, which has since risen to the dig- 
nity of modern financial science, began to be contemplated 
anil undertaken. nineteenth Century, XIX. 883. 
9. In sporting, to hunt by approaching with a 
boat or float at night : as, to float deer. TO float 
up, to solder the ends of (tin cans) inside. The can stands 
on the floating-board, which is heated until the solder runs. 
float (flot), n. [< ME. flote, a boat, a fleet, < 
AS. flota, a boat, ship, also a shipman, sailor, 
= D. vloot, a fleet, riot, a float, raft, LG. fleute, 
a vessel (see flute 2 ), = Icel.floti, a float, raft, 
a fleet, = Sw. flotta = D&ri.flaade, a float, raft, 
a fleet, = OHQ.floz, MHG. vloz, G. floss, a float, 
raft (G. flotte, a fleet, < F. flotte, a fleet, which 
is of LG. or Scand. origin); the related nouns 
are numerous, and the forms mingle; all from 
the verb float, ult. < AS. fledtan, E.fleeft, float, 
etc.: see float, v., and fleet 1 , v. In def. 2, < 
ME. flote, < AS. flot, in prep, phrases, to flote, 
to the water, on flott&cc.), on flote (dat.), on 
the water, afloat, ME. on flote = Icel. a flot, 
afloti, afloat, Sw. flott, Dan. flot, D. vlot (> G. 
flott), a. and adv., afloat, floating. The F. a 
flot, lit. on the wave, is an accom. of the Teut. 
phrase. See afloat.'} 1. That which floats, 
rests, or moves on the surface of water or other 
liquid. 
And for the space of fifty leagues before we came hither 
we always found swimming on the sea flotes of weedes of 
a ship's length, and of the bredth of two ships. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, III. 415. 
Specifically (at) A boat. 
There he made a litel cote 
To him and to hise flote. Bavtlok, 1. 737. 
The vessel, gaily, orfloate y' brought It to Rome so many 
hundred leagues must needs have ben of wonderful big- 
nesse and strange fabriq. Evelyn, Diary, Nov. 20, 1644. 
(6t) A fleet. 
Scipen heo ther heo f unden, makede muchel ax-flat [var. 
mochel flote]. Layamon, I. 193. 
Hainber king and ac his fl>'ote [flote]. Layamon, I. 91. 
The good ship named the Primerose shalbe Admirall of 
this flote. Uakluyt's Voyayet, I. 296. 
(c) A collection of timber, boards, or planks fastened to- 
gether and floated down a stream ; a raft. 
floatage 
From that city [Nineveh] to Ragdat they carry on the 
navigation with fhxilx of timlnT tied together on skins of 
sheep and goats tilled with wind. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 161. 
((/) A fishing-float, (c) A platform of planks or other ni;i 
terial, as a galvanized iron netting or something similar, 
on which oysters are piled in fresh water to fatten for 
marketing. (/) A floating platform fastened to a wharf 
or the shoiv, from which to embark in or land from boat*. 
as a landing-place at a ferry. (</) A i-ork or other light 
substance used on an angling-line to support it ami *l\> >u 
by its movement when a fish takes the hook. 
The float and qnill to warn yon of the bit. 
John Dennys (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 153). 
I ... was creeping cautiously in the freezing water, 
watching the Hay float as it danced its merry course along. 
Jt. B. Roosenlt, Game Fish, p. 46. 
(h) The small piece of Ivory on the surface of the mercury 
in the basin of a barometer, (j) The hollow metallic sphere 
of a self-acting faucet, which floats in the boiler of a steam- 
engine or in a cistern. 
2. The act or state of floating: now only in the 
prepositional phrase or adverb afloat. 
Now er alle on flote, God gif tham grace to spede. 
Langtoft, Chron. (ed. Hearne), p. 169. 
Now is this gaily on flote, and out of the safetie of the 
roade. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 134. 
3f. The act of flowing ; flux ; flood ; flood-tide. 
But our trust in the Almighty is, that with us conten- 
tions are now at their highest float. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, Pref., ix. 
Of which kind we conceive the main float and refloat of 
the sea is, which is by consent of the universe, as part of 
the diurnal motion. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 907. 
It were more ease to stop the ocean 
From floats and ebbs than to dissuade my vows. 
Ford, Tis Pity, I. 1. 
4f. [Cf. F. flot, a wave: see etym.] A wave. 
For the rest o' the fleet, 
Which I dlspers'd, they all have met again, 
And are upon the Mediterranean flote, 
Bound sadly home for Naples. Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 
5. An inflated bag or pillow used to sustain a 
person in the water; a cork jacket; a life-pre- 
server. 6. A platform on wheels, bearing a 
group of objects or persons forming a tableau 
or scenic effect, and designed to be drawn 
through the streets in a procession. 
There were sixteen/oo or emblems, each being drawn 
in procession through the streets, and lighted by colored 
fires. Appleton's Ann. Cye., 1886, p. 11. 
7. A kind of dray having the body hung below 
the axle, used for transporting heavy goods. 
8. A coal-cart. 9. A name of various me- 
chanical tools and appliances, (o) The float-board 
of a water-wheel, or of the paddle-wheel of a steamer. (6) 
In prime movers actuated by currents of fluid, that part 
of the machine on which water or air acts in producing its 
impulsive effect; a vane, (e) A plasterers' trowel (usu- 
ally of wood) for spreading plaster. Floats are of several 
sorts: the hand-float, which is a short trowel which a man 
by himself may use in spreading the plaster on lathing; 
the angle-float, which is used for making angles in walls ; 
the Quirk-float, which is used on moldings in angles ; ami 
the (0113 float or derby, which requires two men to use it. 
(tf) A single-cut file for smoothing, (e) A block used in 
polishing marble. (/) A tool used by shoemakers to rasp 
off the ends of pegs, etc., inside the boot or shoe, (g) An 
apparatus used in tempering steel by means of a stream 
of water, (h) The wooden cover of the sponge or tar- 
bucket used with field-gun carriages. Farrow, Mil. Encyc. 
10f. pi. Theat., the footlights : in allusion to 
the wicks, which floated in a trough filled with 
oil. 11. In weaving, especially of fancy fab- 
rics, the passing of a thread crosswise under 
or over several threads without intersecting 
them. 
A float is caused by the shuttle passing either above or 
below the thread or threads intended, consequently it is 
not intersected, as it ought to be, but floats loosely upon 
the surface of the cloth. A. Barlow, Weaving, p. 414. 
12. Inzodl. : (a) In Mollusca, specifically, the 
vesicular appendage of the laiitJtinidee. See 
cut under lantliintda;. (b) A local name of a 
discoid medusa of the genus Velella. 
Velella has Iwme the name which designates its most 
striking peculiarity since the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, on account, perhaps, of a somewhat fanciful likeness 
to a little sail. It is commonly called in Florida, where it 
is sometimes very abundant, the float. 
Stand. Nat. Hist., I. 107. 
(c) An air-sac or other light hollow or vesicu- 
lar part or organ which floats or buoys some 
animals on the water, as the pneumatophore or 
pneumatocyst of a hydrozoan. The large inflated 
part of a physophoran, as the Portuguese man-of-war, is a 
good example. See pneumatophore, and cuts under Atho- 
rybia and PhifKalia. 
13. Same as floater, 4. 
floatage, flotage (flo'taj), n. [< F. flottage, 
floatage, raftage, < flatter, float: see float, v., 
and -age.~\ 1. The floating capacity or power 
of anything. 
I should lighten the brig without imperilling the float- 
age power of the timber in the hold. 
W. C. Riwfell, Sailor's Sweetheart, xiii. 
