floatage 
2. Anything that floats on the water; flotsam. 
Htunertiy, 
floatantt, //. See fl<it/mt. 
floatation!-, . See /Intntion. 
float-board (flot'bord), . 1. A board of the 
water-wheel of undershot mills which receives 
the impulse of the stream by which the wheel 
is driven. 2. One of the paddles of a steamer. 
float-case (flot'kas), . A contrivance for ele- 
vating bodies by the upward pressure of water 
under an air-tight metallic case, moving in a 
well or shaft. 
float-copper (flot'kop"er), n. Copper in the 
form of nne particles carried away by running 
water. See float-mineral. 
floater (flo'ter), n. 1. One who or that which 
floats or fluctuates; a person or thing in a 
floating condition, literally or figuratively. 
Let not the suit of Venus thee displease 
Pity the floaters on th' Ionian seas. 
Eutden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., iv. 
In this study no attempt will be made to give a new 
definition to the participle, that floater between noun and 
verb. Amer. Jour. Philol., IX. 137. 
2. One who floats game. 3. A registering 
float on a graduated stick, designed to indicate 
a level attained between periods of observation. 
4. In political slang, a voter who is not defi- 
nitely attached to any party ; especially, a voter 
whose vote may be purchased. [U. 8.1 
float-file (ftot'fil), n. See file*. 
ffoat-gold (flot'gold), n. Gold in the form of 
fine particles carried away by running water. 
See floa t-mineral. 
float-grass (flot'gras), n. One of several species 
of grass frequent in wet meadows, as Glycerin 
fluitans, Alopecurus geniculatus, and Catabrosa 
aquatica. 
floating (flo'ting), n. 1. The act of support- 
ing one's self, or the state of being supported 
or borne, on the surface of water or other 
liquid; flotation. 
When the sea was calm, all boats alike 
Show'd mastership in floating. Shak.,Cor.,iv. 1. 
2. In agri., the flooding or overflowing of 
meadow-lands. 3. The spreading of stucco or 
plaster on the surface of walls, etc. ; also, the 
second coat of three-coat plastering-work. 
The floating is of flue stuff with a little hair mixed with 
Workshop Receipts, 1st ser., p. 122. 
4. A method of obtaining pigments and other 
materials in a very finely divided state. They 
are first ground as fine as possible in a mill, and are then 
put into long sluiceways of slowly running water. The 
coarser particles sink first, while the finer are carried a 
longer distance. The latter are collected and dried, and 
constitute the floated material. Sometimes, by certain 
modifications, air is used instead of water. 
The preparatory working, in order to remove mechani- 
cal impurities, is effected by levigation. The washed clay 
is dried, slightly calcined, and immediately ground to fine 
powder. The floating is done by hand or power. 
Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 406. 
5. In electrotyping, the process of filling low- 
rced forms of type with liquid plaster up to 
shoulders of the type, and brushing off the 
superfluous plaster after it is dry, preparatory 
to taking a mold. 6. In weaving, a thread of 
weft which floats, spans, or crosses on the top 
of several warped threads. See flushings, i._ 
7. The method or practice of hunting game by 
approaching it with a boat at night ; fire-hunt- 
ing; shining; jacking. The hunter, equipped with 
a lantern or torch, paddles noiselessly toward the game 
as a deer in shallow water, until the reflection of the light 
from the animal's eyes affords an aim. 
In jacking or floating, the shooter sits in the bow of 
a canoe just behind a lantern which throws a powerful 
light ahead, but is shaded from the hunter so as not to 
interfere with his powers of vision. The deer, raising 
their heads, stare at the light as it approaches, and when 
the boat is near enough, the hunter shoots. 
Sportsman's Gazetteer, p. 83. 
floating (flo'ting), p. a. 1. Borne on the sur- 
face of the water or other liquid, or on the air: 
as, a floating leaf; floating islands. 
Th' Atlantic billows roar'd 
When such a destined wretch as I 
His floating home forever left. 
Cowper, The Castaway. 
The very air about the door 
Made misty with the floating meal. 
Tennyson, Miller's Daughter. 
2. Not fixed or settled in a definite state or 
place; fluctuating: as, floating population. 
He had at this period a floating intention of writing a 
history. Bosvxll, Johnson, I. 203. 
3. Free; disconnected; unattached: as, the 
floating ribs in some fishes. 4. In finance: 
(a) Composed of sums of varying amount due 
at different but specified dates ; unfunded: as, 
a large floating debt. (6) Not fixed or definite- 
2275 
ly invested; not appropriated to any fixed per- 
manent investment, as in lands, buildings, ma- 
chinery, etc., but ready to be used as occasion 
demands; in circulation or use: as, Jbnitiiif/ 
capital (opposed to fixed capital). SIT <-n}ninl''- 
Floating anchor, battery, breakwater, bridge, 
dough, dam, debt, derrick, dock, dome, elevator, 
gage, harbor, island, etc. see the nouns. - Floating 
bricks, sec iiricte. Floating kidney, liver meadow 
rib, etc. See the nouns. Floating screed, in ,./.-/,;/., 
a strip of plaster arranged and nicely iidjiisti-d inr Kiiidiii" 
the float. See float, n., 9 (c).- The floating vote, voters 
collectively woo are nut permanently attached to any 
political organization, and whose votes therefore cannot 
be counted upon by party managers. [U. S.] 
floating-board (flo'ting-bord), n. A plate of 
cast-iron with a ribbed or corrugated under sur- 
face, but planed true on top, employed in float- 
ing up tin cans. (See to float up, under float, 
v. t.) Also called floating-plate. 
floating-heart (flo'ting-hart), . A name given 
to species of Lintnanthemum, from their floating 
cordate leaves. 
floating-island (flo'ting-I'land), . In cookery, 
a dish made of cream or boiled custard, with 
white of egg beaten stiff and floating on the 
top, sometimes colored with jelly. 
floating-lever (flo'ting-lev"er), . One of two 
horizontal brake-levers which are introduced 
under the center of a railroad-car body. Car- 
Suilder's Diet. 
floating-plate (flo'ting-plat), . 1. Same as 
floating-board. 2. In stereotyping (by the plas- 
ter process), a plate of iron, about half an inch 
thick, which fits loosely in the dipping-pan when 
the pan contains melted type-metal. This float- 
ing-plate, which floats in the heavier melted type-metal, 
aids in giving uniformity of thickness to the stereotvDe- 
plate. 
float-mineral (fWt'rfn'*r-jl), . Fragments of 
ore detached and carried to some distance from 
their native bed by currents of water or in the 
ordinary process of erosion ; also, particles of 
metal which are liberated in the process of 
stamping, and are top thin and minute to settle 
readily in water, as in the case of float-gold or 
float-copper. 
float-ore (flot'or), . Same as float-mineral . 
floatsome, n. A dialectal variant of flotsam. 
floatstone (flot'ston), n. 1. A spongiform 
quartz, a mineral of a spongy texture, of a 
whitish-gray color, often with a tinge of yellow, 
so light as to float in water. It frequently 
contains a nucleus of common flint. 2. In 
bricklaying, a stone used to rub curved work 
smooth and remove the ax-marks, as in the 
heads and backs of niches. Its form is made 
the reverse of that of the surface on which it 
is to be used. 
floaty (flo'ti), a. [Formerly also flotie; < float 
+ -y 1 -] It. Able to float or swim on the sur- 
face; buoyant. 
The hindrance to stay well is the extreme length of a 
ship, especially if she be floaty, and want sharpness of way 
forwards. Raleigh, Essays. 
Some few buttes of beare being flotie they got, which 
though it had lien six moneths vnder water was very good. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 154. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
floccus 
bunch of curled hairs, as tho t rodianters of cer- 
tain bees. 
flOCCUlation (flok-u-la'shon), n. [< XL. flinrnlu.i 
+ -ation.} The act or process of becoming 
floccular; specifically, in client, and physics, the 
union of small particles into granular aggre- 
gates or compound particles of larger size, un- 
der the influence of a moderate agitation in 
water or other fluid. 
If we begin with a strong solution of sulplinric, nitric. 
and chlorhydric acids mixed, and follow through repeated 
dilutions a above described, tin il,,,-, -11/111;, ,,i and precipi- 
tation of the suspended material is almost equally rapid 
for several successive dilutions. 
.1 mer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., XXIX. 4. 
floccule (flok'ul), n. [< NL. flocculus, dim. of L. 
floccus, a lock of wool : see flocculus.} Some- 
thing resembling a small tuft of wool ; specifi- 
cally, in diem, and physics, a small compound 
particle formed from the union of still smaller 
particles by agitation in a liquid. See floccula- 
tion. 
flocculence (flok'u-lens), . [< flocculent.} 1. 
The state of being woolly or flocculent ; adhe- 
sion in small flocks or tufts ; the condition of 
containing flocculi. 
The reflecting surfaces which give rise to these (aerial) 
echoes are for the most part due to differences of tempera- 
ture between sea and air. If, through any cause the air 
above be chilled, we have descending streams if the air 
below be warmed, we have ascending streams as the ini- 
tial cause of atmospheric flocculence. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XIII. 287. 
2. In entom., a soft, white, waxy substance ex- 
uded from various parts of the body, but pri- 
marily from the abdomen. It is found most 
commonly in the Homoptera. 
flocculent (flok'u-lent), a. [< L. floccus, a lock 
of wool, etc. (see flocW), + -ulcnt.} 1. Like a 
flock of wool; fleecy; woolly. 
The weather had been flne and clear, and in the morn- 
ing the air was full of patches of the flocculent web (of the 
gossamer spider], as on an autumnal day in England. 
Darwin, Voyage of Beagle, I. 204. 
Specifically 2. Coalescing and adhering in 
locks or flocks. 
These red cells, acquiring thick cell- walls, . . . float in 
flocculent aggregations on the surface of the water. This 
state seems to correspond with the "winter-spores" of 
other Protophytes. W. B. Carpenter, Micros., 234. 
3. In ornitJi., like or pertaining to the floccus. 
See floccus, 2 (b). Also floccose. 4. In entom., 
covered, as an insect, or any part of it, with a 
soft, waxy substance, generally white in color 
and adhering in irregular flakes or strings, 
often of considerable length, as in many Ho- 
moptera Flocculent precipitate, in </., a woolly- 
looking precipitate, like that of alumina, from the solu- 
tion of a salt to which ammonia is added. 
flocculi, n. Plural of flocculus. 
flocculose (flok'u-los), a. [< NL. as if 'floccu- 
losus, < flocculus, dim. of L. floccus, a lock of 
2. Rank and tall, as grass. u ^ 
flocci, n. Plural of floccus. 
floccillation (flok-si-la'shon), , [< 'floccHlus, 
an assumed dim. of L. floccus, a lock or flock of 
wool, etc.: see flock*, n.} In patltol., a deliri- 
ous picking of the bedclothes by a patient ; car- 
phologia. 
floccipendt, v. t. [< L. flocci pendere, consider 
of no value, lit. value at a lock of wool : flocci, 
gen. of floccus, a lock or flock of wool, etc. 
(used as a symbol of valuelessness) ; pendere, 
weigh, have value: see pendent. Cf. vilipend.'} 
To consider of no value ; value not a hair. 
By reason wherof he should be floccipended and had in 
contempt & disdeygne of the Scottish people. 
Hall, Hen. VII., an. 11. 
floccose (flok'os), a. [< LL. floccosus, full of 
flocks of wool, < floccus, a flock of wool, etc. : 
see flock 2 , .] i. Woolly; specifically, in hot., 
composed of or bearing flocci. 2. In ornith., 
same as flocculent, 3. 
floccular (flok'u-lar), a. [< NL. flocculus + -ar.} 
Of the nature of or resembling a flocculus ; spe- 
cifically, in anat., of or pertaining to the floc- 
culus of the cerebellum : as, the floccular fossa 
(that fossa in which the flocculus is lodged). 
On its inner surface the flocndar fossa is nearly always 
wide and deep, but it is absent, or nearly so, in the capy- 
bara, paca, and porcupine. 
W. H. Flomr, Osteology, p. 158. 
Floccular process, the flocculus. 
flocculate (flok'u-lat), a. [< NL. flocculus + 
-ate 1 ."] In entom., bearing a flocculus or small 
wool.] Woolly; like wool; flocculent; specifi- 
cally, in l>ot., somewhat or finely floccose. 
flocculus (flok'u-lus), n. ; pi. flocculi (-li). [NL., 
dim. of L. floccus, a flock of wool: see flock 2 .} 
1. A small flock of wool or something resem- 
bling it; a small tuft; a shred; a flake. Spe- 
cifically 2. In anat., a tuft-like lobe of the 
cerebellar hemisphere on either side behind and 
below the middle peduncle of the cerebellum. 
The nodulus connects the two flocculi. Also called sub- 
peduncular lobe and pneumoffaxtric lobule. 
3. In entom., a small bunch of fine curved 
hairs ; particularly, a bunch of stiff hairs found 
on the posterior cox of certain hymenopter- 
ous insects. 4. In diem, and physics, a small 
aggregation of particles formed by the agita- 
tion of a liquid containing them Commissure 
Of the flocculus. See commissure. 
floccus (flok'us), n. ; pi. flocci (-si). [L., a flock 
of wool, etc. : see flock?.} 1. A flock or tuft of 
wool or something resembling it. Specifically 
2. In zool. : (a) The long tuft of hair which 
terminates the tail in some quadrupeds, (b) In 
ornith., the peculiar covering of newly hatched 
or unfledged birds ; the generally downy plu- 
mage, of simple structure, growing at first from 
the skin. It is afterward, for the most part, affixed to 
the tip of the growing new feathers, of which it is the pre- 
cursor, or rather the first-formed part, and finally falls off, 
not to be renewed. In psilopredic birds the floccus is as- 
sociated only with the true plumage, sprouting from the fu- 
ture pterylae alone ; in ptilopsedic birds it sprouts also from 
the apteria or featherless parts, and so far is not connected 
with the future plumage ; in such cases the whole body is 
densely clothed. 
3. In bot. : (a) A small tuft of woolly hairs. 
(6) pi. In mycology, hyphse or thread-like cells 
which compose the mycelium of a fungus, es- 
pecially when they resemble fine wool. 
