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

Signature Adventures Most people show up to raft the New River, which runs for 53 miles through the heart of the 1,000-foot deep canyon. —Graham Averill, Outside Online, 16 Apr. 2025

This is not a trip for novices, so the permitting process includes meeting park service standards for the skills to raft this river. —Mindy Sink, Denver Post, 2 Apr. 2025

Noun

In addition to a raft of feature updates, the new OS brings major security and privacy improvements from both Google and Samsung, and a new, Apple-like ecosystem. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025

During subsequent performances, spectators took in the music from boats and rafts on the water. —Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025

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

Rhymes for raft

• aft
• chaffed
• craft
• daft
• draft
• draught
• graft
• graphed
• haft
• kraft
• laughed
• shaft

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"