1
: buoyed on or in a fluid
2
: located out of the normal position
a floating kidney
3
a
: continually drifting or changing position
the floating population
b
: not presently committed or invested
floating capital
c
: short-term and usually not funded
floating debt
d
: having no fixed value or rate
floating currencies
floating interest rates
4
: connected or constructed so as to operate and adjust smoothly
a floating axle
Examples of floating in a Sentence
the wreckage remained floating for hours
Recent Examples on the Web
Companies with a smaller market value generally tend to have more floating rate debt than larger businesses.
—
Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025
Social media posts and years of reviewing cookie-cutter luxury hotels had conditioned me to equate floating breakfasts, monogrammed accessories, butler service, and aromatherapy menus as markers of a dreamy luxury vacation.
—Katherine Alex Beaven, Travel + Leisure, 22 Oct. 2024
The boat, a single motorboat, was found floating and half-submerged near the Harbor One Marina.
—Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 3 Sep. 2024
Netanyahu said other countries, including France, were creating floating and field hospitals to take in injured and sick patients.
—Doug Cameron, WSJ, 12 Nov. 2023
See All Example Sentences for floating
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Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025
Social media posts and years of reviewing cookie-cutter luxury hotels had conditioned me to equate floating breakfasts, monogrammed accessories, butler service, and aromatherapy menus as markers of a dreamy luxury vacation.
—Katherine Alex Beaven, Travel + Leisure, 22 Oct. 2024
The boat, a single motorboat, was found floating and half-submerged near the Harbor One Marina.
—Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 3 Sep. 2024
Netanyahu said other countries, including France, were creating floating and field hospitals to take in injured and sick patients.
—Doug Cameron, WSJ, 12 Nov. 2023
See All Example Sentences for floating
Cite this Entry
“Floating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/floating. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
floating
adjective
float·ing
ˈflōt-iŋ 
: located out of the normal position or abnormally movable
a floating kidney
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