raft

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈraft 

1

a

: a flat structure (as of wood) for support or transportation on water

"How shall we cross the river?" asked Dorothy. "That is easily done," replied the Scarecrow. "The Tin Woodman must build us a raft, so we can float to the other side." So the Woodman took his axe and began to chop down small trees to make a raft …

—L. Frank Baum

… has made a living poling a raft on the Suchiate for two decades …

—María Verza and Sonia Pérez

In addition to a gorgeous 400' long sandy beach with a swim raft, there are 44 boat docks which are licensed to individual … homeowners.

—Frank Roche

also : an inflatable flat-bottomed watercraft

Finally, the three astronauts, wearing their isolation garments, clambered out of the spacecraft into a rubber raft.

—Brian Duff

All my fishing gear, which sometimes included an inflatable raft, went into a backpack so that my hands would be free to carry my shotgun.

—Nelson Bryant

b

: a collection of logs or timber fastened together in order to be floated downstream (as to a sawmill)

Soviet loggers commonly float individual logs down rivers to sawmills, rather than lashing them together in rafts.

—A. Kent MacDougall

2

: a floating naturally cohesive mass

rafts of kelp

Home sites and hunting vantage points would have been undercut by the waves, salt meadows would have become angry shallow seas, and bitter salt and rafts of sea ice would have killed the willow brush and rich sedge meadows of the river deltas.

—William W. Fitzburg and Aron Crowell

3

: an aggregation of animals (such as waterfowl) resting on the water

a raft of ducks

raft

2 of 3

verb

rafted; rafting; rafts

transitive verb

1

a

: to transport by means of a raft (see raft entry 1 sense 1a)

Lewis was rafting supplies cross river … when he dumped his raft, soaking his chronometer.

—Fred Haefele

b

: to transport in the form of a raft (see raft entry 1 sense 1b)

… the logs which had been floating in them were swept down the river to the sea before being rafted away to the sawmills.

—D. A. Bathgate

c

: to convey (something, such as pebbles) in floating ice or masses of organic material

… sediment deposits are dominated by rock fragments released by melting ice. Even large rocks are rafted out and then released as the ice melts.

—M. Grant Gross

2

: to travel along or across (a river or other body of water) on a raft

Although the writing is somewhat pedestrian, river rats will enjoy the 27 accounts … of rafting rivers in 11 Western states.

—Tom Miller

3

: to make into a raft

rafted the logs

intransitive verb

: to travel by raft

rafted across moderate rapids

raftable

ˈraf-tə-bəl 

adjective

raftable white water

raft

3 of 3

noun (2)

: a large collection or number

Synonyms

Noun (2)

• abundance
• barrel
• basketful
• boatload
• bucket
• bunch
• bundle
• bushel
• carload
• chunk
• deal
• dozen
• fistful
• gobs
• good deal
• heap
• hundred
• lashings [chiefly British]
• lashins
• loads
• lot
• mass
• mess
• mountain
• much
• multiplicity
• myriad
• oodles
• pack
• passel
• peck
• pile
• plateful
• plenitude
• plentitude
• plenty
• pot
• potful
• profusion
• quantity
• reams
• scads
• sheaf
• shipload
• sight
• slew
• spate
• stack
• store
• ton
• truckload
• volume
• wad
• wealth
• yard

Examples of raft in a Sentence

Noun (2)

the babysitter had to listen to a whole raft of rules before she was allowed to even pick up the baby

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Last year, in response to the nine-year campaign, the Albanian government created the Vjosa Wild River National Park, where adventurous visitors can go rafting, climbing, and hiking. —Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 8 Apr. 2024

The duo planned to raft down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. —Michael Wells, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2024

Most people rafting Cataract Canyon take out upstream of here — including recreationists and agency staff — and few Lake Powell users make it as far as these upper reaches. —Cassidy Randall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024

Raft Idaho is your one-stop shop to find the best rivers to raft in your area. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024

This City Just Won Best U.S. Destination for the 11th Year in a Row Travelers can explore the national parks of the Arches and Canyonlands or head to the Colorado River, allowing visitors to explore the rock formations on foot or kayak, paddleboard, or raft their way through the environment. —Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 7 Feb. 2024

National Geographic also recommends road-tripping on Route 66 through New Mexico, catching the total solar eclipse on April 8 at Terrapin Point in Niagara Falls State Park, antiquing in New York's Hudson Valley and rafting through the rapids in West Virginia's New River. —USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2024

Many of her neighbors, rafted together by war and dictatorship, and imprisoned for the sins of their husbands and fathers, have nowhere to return to. —Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024

The list also said people can support the local Native American community by booking a Colorado River adventure with the Hualapai River Runners which is a white-water rafting company led by Hualapai Tribe river guides. —Dina Kaur, The Arizona Republic, 17 Jan. 2024

Noun

The body of a man who had been traveling down the Colorado River on a wooden raft has been found in Grand Canyon National Park, officials said. —Jon Haworth, ABC News, 14 May 2024

Officials previously released a photo of the raft that it is believed Robison used, showing just a few long planks assembled together, along with a paddle and life vest. —CBS News, 14 May 2024

The summit ended Monday night with a fancy dinner attended by a raft of A-list CEOs, among them JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon and Henry Kravis of KKR. —Alexandre Rajbhandari, Fortune Europe, 14 May 2024

These restrictions dovetail with a raft of measures targeting China’s AI ambitions, including last year blocking Nvida from selling AI chips to Chinese firms. —Charlie Campbell, TIME, 13 May 2024

In late 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to a raft of federal charges, including campaign finance violations related to hush money payouts to two women in exchange for their public silence about their personal relationships with Trump. —Npr Washington Desk, NPR, 13 May 2024

Zhang joins a raft of corporate chieftains who’ve relocated to the island state after years of regulatory tightening and Covid restrictions hammered China’s once free-wheeling tech sector. —Zheping Huang, Fortune Asia, 8 May 2024

The two defendants had faced a raft of various charges related to rioting and assault during a protest in a beach neighborhood in the aftermath of the tumultuous 2020 election. —Will Carless, USA TODAY, 4 May 2024

That shift set the tone for the confab, triggering a global government-bond selloff that sent yields to the highest levels in months and put pressure on a raft of currencies including the yen, which hit the lowest since 1990 against the dollar. —Enda Curran, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English rafte rafter, raft, from Old Norse raptr rafter

Noun (2)

alteration of raff jumble

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1667, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (2)

1821, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing raft

• life raft

Kids Definition

raft

1 of 3 noun

ˈraft 

: a flat structure (as a group of logs fastened together) for support or transportation on water

raft

2 of 3 verb

: to transport or move on or by means of a raft

raft

3 of 3 noun

: a large amount or number

Etymology

Noun

Middle English rafte "rafter, raft"; of Norse origin

Noun

probably an altered form of earlier raff "jumble"