afloat

adv

1. (not-comparable)In or into a state of floating.

   “You have so little Brains, that a Penn’orth of Butter melted under ’um, would set ’um afloat:”

   “[…] I went down to my Boat, got the Water out of her, and got her afloat, loaded all my Cargo in her, and then went Home again for more;”

   “Oh why is heaven built so far, / Oh why is earth set so remote? / I cannot reach the nearest star / That hangs afloat.”

2. (not-comparable)In, or while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water; at sea.

   “[…] that trade […] may likewise employ many useful hands both ashore and afloat,”

   “They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint’s; the devil himself would have been feared to go to sea with them.”

   “Navy chow ashore is rarely as good as it is afloat, and for enlisted men it is usually much worse.”

3. (not-comparable)Under water (bearing floating objects).

   “1695, Edmund Gibson (translator), Camden’s Britannia, London: A. Swalle, “Staffordshire,” […] it [the River Dove] overflows and lays the meadows afloat in April, like another Nile.”

4. (figuratively, not-comparable, usually)In or into circulation or currency.

   “setting a lie aflote”

   “[…] I shall not be judged fairly; it will get afloat that I am not a good girl,”

   “[…] as this example set the discourse about witchcraft afloat, some people, troubled with a similar complaint, began to fancy themselves bewitched too.”

5. (figuratively, not-comparable, obsolete)In or into a condition of stimulation, arousal, confusion, bewilderment, etc.

   “No angry passions rise to disturb the silent progress of the work, […] no irritable humours are set afloat:”

   “[…] they knew how to abstain from the overdose of liquor that sets the brain afloat and loosens the tongue.”

adj

1. (not-comparable)Floating.

   “A rubber duck and other toys were afloat in the bath.”

   “On such a full sea are we now afloat; / And we must take the current when it serves, / Or lose our ventures.”

2. (not-comparable)In, or found while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water.

   “[…] that trade […] may likewise employ many useful hands both ashore and afloat,”

3. (not-comparable)Floating in the air; flowing freely; not tied, braided, etc. (of hair or clothing)

   “her black hair loose and a-float down her dazzling white neck”

   “unbound silvery-gold tresses afloat beneath a jeweled coronet”

   “[…] she roars down the street, dreads and feathers and cape afloat,”

4. (not-comparable)Covered with water, bearing floating objects.

   “The decks are afloat.”

   “The yard was afloat. Jody looked out of the window and saw two drowned biddies floating about with upturned bellies.”

5. (figuratively, not-comparable)Covered, overspread, filled (with or in something).

   “The larch-wood was afloat with clear, lyric green,”

   “The world was afloat in primrose light, pale and exquisite.”

   “The lobby was afloat with men, single and married, meeting pretty women in bright dresses and pants suits, single and married.”

6. (not-comparable)Having just enough resources to continue to operate; barely able to pay expenses; (of a private individual, family, etc.) keeping one's head above water.

   “The donation will keep our business afloat for quite a while.”

   “[…] you nede not to be sorye, as thoughe your frendely liberalitie had not be very acceptable vnto me. I haue receaued euery thing, and now I am afloate, by your lyberall sendyng.”

   “He […] endeavoured, by forcing himself into a lower path of life than any he had hitherto trod, to keep himself afloat, with the portion of some tradesman’s daughter, whom he meant to espouse.”

   “[…] the price poor Jos Osborne had paid for her two horses was in itself sufficient to keep their little establishment afloat for a year, at least;”

   “They somehow manage to keep "afloat," so as to obtain the needful funds to pay their passages and to purchase, tools and rations.”

7. (figuratively, not-comparable, usually)Believed or talked about by many people; being passed from person to person.

   “The supervisor was never fired, though countless accusations of dishonesty were afloat.”

   “[…] she and I were accepted, whatever ugly rumours had been afloat in the past year, as man and wife.”

8. (figuratively, not-comparable, obsolete)Stimulated, aroused, activated.

   “You’ll find, when once my passion is afloat, / The soul of Caesar, in a petticoat!”

   “My half frozen blood and my fears again afloat made me tremble through every limb;”

9. (figuratively, not-comparable, obsolete)In a state of confusion, bewilderment, or distraction.

   “1789, Edward Gibbon, letter to Lord Sheffield dated August 1789, in Miscellaneous Works, London: A. Strahan et al., 1796, p. 201, I know not what to say; my mind is all afloat; yet you will not reproach me with caprice or inconstancy.”

   “[…] he could correctly analyze and parse any sentence you could give him, no matter how complex; but when it came to talking he was all afloat.”

prep

1. (obsolete)Floating upon.

   “early 1600s, John Webster and William Rowley, The Thracian Wonder, London: Thomas Johnson, 1661, Act I, Scene 1, But Huswife, as for you, / You with your Brat, wee’l send afloat the Main,”

   “[…] great wee see must be the art and cunning of that man, that keeps him afloat the streame of Soveraigne favour,”