FLOATER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does floater mean? 

• FLOATER (noun)
  The noun FLOATER has 8 senses:

1. spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humor and lens

2. a debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills)

3. a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support

4. an employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed

5. a voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election

6. a swimmer who floats in the water

7. an object that floats or is capable of floating

8. an insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewelry) regardless of its location

  Familiarity information: FLOATER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLOATER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humor and lens

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

floater; musca volitans; muscae volitantes; spots

Context example:

floaters seem to drift through the field of vision

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

certificate of indebtedness; debt instrument; obligation (a written promise to repay a debt)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

clochard; drifter; floater; vagabond; vagrant

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

have-not; poor person (a person with few or no possessions)

bird of passage; roamer; rover; wanderer (someone who leads a wandering unsettled life)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "floater"):

beachcomber (a vagrant living on a beach)

sundowner (a tramp who habitually arrives at sundown)

bum; hobo; tramp (a vagrant)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

employee (a worker who is hired to perform a job)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

elector; voter (a citizen who has a legal right to vote)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A swimmer who floats in the water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

bather; natator; swimmer (a person who travels through the water by swimming)

Derivation:

float (be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom)

Sense 7

Meaning:

An object that floats or is capable of floating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "floater"):

berg; iceberg (a large mass of ice floating at sea; usually broken off of a polar glacier)

Derivation:

float (be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom)

Sense 8

Meaning:

An insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewelry) regardless of its location

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

floater; floating policy

Hypernyms ("floater" is a kind of...):

insurance; insurance policy; policy (written contract or certificate of insurance)

 Context examples 

Symptoms include mildly decreased vision and floaters.

(Pars Planitis, NCI Thesaurus)

Signs and symptoms include decreased vision, uveitis, and vitreous floaters.

(Intraocular Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Patients may present with blurred vision, visual field loss, floaters, and ocular pain.

(Ciliary Body Melanoma, NCI Thesaurus)

When signs and symptoms occur, they include blurred vision, visual field loss, floaters, and ocular pain.

(Choroid Melanoma, NCI Thesaurus)