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

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

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

White Water Rafting in Canada Whitewater rafting on Nahatlatch River, Canada. —Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2024

The crew sets up a shot of fire ants rafting in a tank. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2024

In the summer, proximity to a number of rafting tour outposts will please adrenaline seekers. —Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 17 Jan. 2024

More adventurous travelers who come in the summer can try river rafting on the Rio Grande or Rio Chama, and hikers of all skill levels can hit the trails in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. —Catherine Garcia, The Week Us, theweek, 7 Jan. 2024

Noun

His Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a raft of rules constraining the conduct of financial institutions; his Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department have begun an aggressive antitrust crusade; and his National Labor Relations Board has pursued an unambiguously pro-union agenda. —Jonathan Mahler Edoardo Ballerini Emma Kehlbeck Joel Thibodeau, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024

In recent months, Biden has been lapping Trump in terms of fundraising, in part because Trump also needs to raise money to pay legal fees associated with a raft of criminal indictments and civil court judgements against him. —David Jackson, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024

Demand for tickets was so high that Ticketmaster experienced a raft of glitches and technical problems, with the fiasco ending in the cancellation of a public sale for the spots. —Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024

Samsung Trade-In Offers For Galaxy S24 Samsung continues to push sales of the Galaxy S24 handsets with a raft of special offers. —Ewan Spence, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Chinese cities used to dominate global rankings of the world’s worst air quality but a raft of clean air policies over the past decade has transformed things for the better. —Helen Regan, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024

Among a raft of criminal charges Trump faces in several jurisdictions, he is accused of conspiring to defraud the government and obstruction of an official proceeding in connection with a riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. —Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 14 Mar. 2024

The company’s Treasures From Planet Hollywood event ran from Wednesday through Sunday and the wooden raft that Rose (Kate Winslet) clung to at the end of the movie—sorry, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio)—was the highest-selling item up for grabs. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 26 Mar. 2024

Elon Musk’s carmaker is up against increasingly stiff competition in China, not only from homegrown competitor BYD Co. but a raft of other EV manufacturers churning out more affordable, tech-laden vehicles. —Bloomberg, Fortune Asia, 22 Mar. 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"