<B>floating bridge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a bridge supported by boats, rafts, or pontoons. <DD><B> 2. </B>the part of certain swing bridges, supported by a caisson or pontoon, which can swing away. <DD><B> 3. </B>a kind of double bridge whose upper member projects beyond the lower and can be moved forward by ropes, formerly used for carrying troops over narrow moats. </DL>
<B>floating dock</B> or <B>dry dock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of movable dry dock that is raised above the water after a ship has entered, and lowered after repairs are completed. </DL>
<A NAME="floatinggarden">
<B>floating garden,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an artificially made island that floats on the surface of a lake and consists of a long strip of woven rushes covered with mud and weeds upon which vegetables and flowers are grown. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingheart">
<B>floating heart,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an aquatic plant of the gentian family that has floating, heart-shaped leaves. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingisland">
<B>floating island,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a floating mass of earth held together especially by driftwood or roots. <DD><B> 2. </B>a dessert made of boiled custard with meringue or whipped cream on it. </DL>
<A NAME="floatinglight">
<B>floating light,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=lightship.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a lifebuoy with a lantern, for use in rescue work at night. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingpoint">
<B>floating-point, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or designating a computation in a digital computer in which the location of the decimal point or the binary point may vary from number to number. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingribs">
<B>floating ribs,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> ribs not attached to the breastbone; the last two pairs of ribs. See also <B>false ribs.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="floatingstock">
<B>floating stock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> stock available for speculation rather than for investment, and thus not held permanently. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingsupply">
<B>floating supply,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the quantity of goods or securities immediately available in a market. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingvote">
<B>floating vote,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the group of voters without known party affiliation or preference. </DL>
<A NAME="floatingvoter">
<B>floating voter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a voter who is not committed to any political party, candidate, or issue; an undecided voter; floater. <BR> <I>Ex. What [the Prime Minister] is after is the floating voter ... to win the floater's respect by getting tough with the unions, and by securing a balance of payments surplus (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="floatplane">
<B>floatplane, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an airplane with floats in place of wheels. </DL>
<A NAME="floatprocess">
<B>float process,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a process for making float glass. </DL>
<A NAME="floats">
<B>floats, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>float.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="floatstone">
<B>floatstone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a stone used by bricklayers for smoothing the surfaces of bricks used in curved work. <DD><B> 2. </B>a whitish-gray, spongy variety of opal, so light as to float upon water. </DL>
<A NAME="floaty">
<B>floaty, </B>adjective, <B>floatier,</B> <B>floatiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>that can float; buoyant. <DD><B> 2. </B>(of a ship) needing very little water to float. </DL>
<A NAME="floc">
<B>floc, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a light, loose mass that looks like a tuft of wool, such as in a chemical precipitate. Also, <B>flock.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="flocci">
<B>flocci, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>floccus.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="floccillation">
<B>floccillation, </B>noun. =carphology.</DL>
<A NAME="floccose">
<B>floccose, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Botany.) composed of or bearing tufts of woolly hairs. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) woolly. </DL>
<A NAME="flocculant">
<B>flocculant, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> an agent which causes or promotes flocculation. <BR> <I>Ex. Flocculants ... cause particles in the water to precipitate to the bottom (Matt Clark).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> causing or promoting flocculation. <BR> <I>Ex. flocculant polymers.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="flocculate">
<B>flocculate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to form into flocculent masses; form compound masses of particles, such as a cloud or a chemical precipitate. <BR> <I>Ex. Humus, mixed with the mineral parts of the soil, causes the finer particles to flocculate (Fred W. Emerson).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a flocculated formation or mass. </DL>
<A NAME="flocculation">
<B>flocculation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the process of flocculating; formation into flocculent masses. </DL>
<A NAME="floccule">
<B>floccule, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> something that looks like a small flock or tuft of wool, as in a liquid. </DL>
<A NAME="flocculence">
<B>flocculence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the state of being woolly or flocculent. </DL>
<A NAME="flocculent">
<B>flocculent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>like bits of wool. <DD><B> 2. </B>made up of soft, woolly masses. <DD><B> 3. </B>covered with a soft, woolly substance. <DD><B> 4. </B>having a soft, waxy coating, as certain insects do. adv. <B>flocculently.</B> </DL>
<B>flocculus, </B>noun, pl. <B>-li.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small flock of wool or something that looks like it; floccule. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of the cloudy masses of very hot gases which cover the surface of the sun, as photographed by the spectroheliograph. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Anatomy.) a small lobe on the underside of the cerebellum. </DL>
<A NAME="floccus">
<B>floccus, </B>noun, pl. <B>flocci.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> something that looks like a flock of wool. </DL>
<A NAME="flock">
<B>flock</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a group of animals of one kind keeping, feeding, or herded together, especially sheep; goats, or birds. <BR> <I>Ex. a flock of geese. A flock can mean lions in Africa, sheep in Australia, goats in Ireland, and geese in the United States (Science News Letter).</I> (SYN) herd, drove. <DD><B> 2. </B>a large group; crowd. <BR> <I>Ex. Visitors came in flocks to the zoo to see the new gorrilla.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) people of the same church group; band; company. <BR> <I>Ex. The pastor reproved his flock for fishing on Sunday.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to go or gather in a flock; keep in groups. <BR> <I>Ex. Sheep usually flock together.</I> (SYN) congregate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to come crowding; crowd. <BR> <I>Ex. The children flocked around the ice-cream stand.</I> (SYN) congregate. adj. <B>flockless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="flock">
<B>flock</B> (2), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a tuft of wool or cotton. <DD><B> 2. </B>waste wool or cotton used to stuff mattresses and cushions. <DD><B> 3. </B>finely powdered wool or other fiber used to form a velvety pattern or surface on wallpaper or fabric. <DD><B> 4. </B><B>=floc.</B> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to stuff with flock. <DD><B> 2. </B>to cover or coat with flock. </DL>
<A NAME="flocking">
<B>flocking, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a pattern or design made with flock. <DD><B> 2. </B>the bunching together of wet wool fibers to form a shrunken mass. </DL>
<A NAME="flockmaster">
<B>flockmaster, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) an owner or overseer of a flock; sheep farmer. </DL>
<A NAME="flockpaper">
<B>flockpaper, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> wallpaper coated or decorated with flock or powdered wool. </DL>
<A NAME="flockpigeon">
<B>flock pigeon,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of pigeon found in Australia in very large flocks. </DL>
<A NAME="flockprinting">
<B>flock printing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a form of decoration on wallpaper, greeting cards, or the like, in which the design is outlined with glue and then finely chopped bits of silk and wool are sprinkled on. </DL>
<A NAME="flocky">
<B>flocky, </B>adjective, <B>flockier,</B> <B>flockiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>like flocks or tufts. <DD><B> 2. </B>covered with flocks or tufts. </DL>
<A NAME="floe">
<B>floe, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a field or sheet of floating ice. <DD><B> 2. </B>a floating piece broken off from such a field or sheet. </DL>
<A NAME="floeberg">
<B>floeberg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a large mass of ice formed from floes heaped up by the action of the wind and waves. </DL>
<A NAME="floerat">
<B>floe rat,</B> =ringed seal.</DL>
<A NAME="flog">
<B>flog, </B>verb, <B>flogged,</B> <B>flogging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to beat or whip hard. <BR> <I>Ex. The inhuman flogging of disobedient soldiers and sailors was stopped years ago. Trees were seen to flog the ground with their branches (Sir John Herschel).</I> (SYN) drub, flagellate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to cast a fly line over (a stream) repeatedly in fishing. <DD><B> 3. </B>to tire out; exhaust. <BR> <I>Ex. After the hike I was flogged out.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(British Slang.) to sell; offer for sale (originally something not belonging to the seller). <BR> <I>Ex. One of them tried to flog me second-hand cotton machinery (Punch).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to beat or flap heavily, as of a sail. <BR><I>expr. <B>flog a dead horse.</B> </I>See under <B>dead horse.</B> noun <B>flogger.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="flogging">
<B>flogging, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the practice of beating or whipping as punishment. <DD><B> 2. </B>a beating or whipping; chastisement. </DL>
<A NAME="flong">
<B>flong, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a prepared sheet of thick, composite paper, used for making a stereotype mold. </DL>
