Float vs. Swim — What's the Difference?

To remain suspended within or on the surface of a fluid without sinking.

To move through or on top of water by moving the limbs, fins, or tail or by undulating the body

To be suspended in or move through space as if supported by a liquid.

To play or relax in water

To move from place to place, especially at random.

To float on water or another liquid

To move easily or lightly

To be covered or flooded with a liquid

(Economics) To rise or fall freely in response to the market

To possess a superfluity; abound

To cause to remain suspended without sinking or falling.

To experience a floating or giddy sensation; be dizzy

To put into the water; launch

To appear to float or spin slowly

To start or establish (a business enterprise, for example).

To move through or across (a body of water or a distance) by swimming

To flood (land), as for irrigation.

To execute (a particular stroke) in swimming.

(Economics) To allow (the exchange value of a currency, for example) to rise or fall freely in response to the market

The act of swimming

To offer for consideration; suggest

A distance covered by or period of time spent swimming.

To release (a security) for sale.

An area, as of a river, abounding in fish.

To arrange for (a loan).

Of, relating to, or used for swimming

To make the surface of (plaster, for example) level or smooth.

(intransitive) To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.

(Computers) To convert (data) from fixed-point notation to floating-point notation.

(intransitive) To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid

A raft.

(intransitive) To move around freely because of excess space.

A buoy.

(transitive) To traverse (a specific body of water, or a specific distance) by swimming; or, to utilize a specific swimming stroke; or, to compete in a specific swimming event.

A life preserver.

To cause to swim.

A buoyant object, such as a piece of cork or a plastic ball, used to hold a net or part of a fishing line afloat.

To float.

A landing platform attached to a wharf and floating on the water.

(intransitive) To be overflowed or drenched.

A floating ball attached to a lever to regulate the water level in a tank.

(transitive) To immerse in water to make the lighter parts float.

(Biology) An air-filled sac or structure that aids in the flotation of an aquatic organism. Also called air bladder, air vesicle.

To test (a suspected witch) by throwing into a river; those who floated rather than sinking were deemed to be witches.

A decorated exhibit or scene mounted on a mobile platform and pulled or driven in a parade.

(intransitive) To glide along with a waving motion.

The number of shares of a security that are publicly owned and traded.

(intransitive) To be dizzy or vertiginous; have a giddy sensation; to have, or appear to have, a whirling motion.

A sum of money representing checks that are outstanding.

An act or instance of swimming.

The time between the issuing or depositing of a check and the debiting of the issuer's account.

The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.

The time during which a credit card purchase can be repaid without interest.

(UK) A part of a stream much frequented by fish.

A tool for smoothing the surface of wet plaster or concrete.

A dance move of the 1960s in which the arms are moved in a freestyle swimming manner.

A file with sharp ridges used for cutting or smoothing wood.

A dizziness; swoon.

A soft drink with ice cream floating in it.

Abbreviation of someone who isn't meused as a way to avoid self-designation or self-incrimination, especially in online drug forums

Excess time allowed for a task in a project schedule.

To be supported by water or other fluid; not to sink; to float; as, any substance will swim, whose specific gravity is less than that of the fluid in which it is immersed.

To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).

To move progressively in water by means of strokes with the hands and feet, or the fins or the tail.

To be supported by a liquid of greater density, such that part (of the object or substance) remains above the surface.

To be overflowed or drenched.

(transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density.

Fig.: To be as if borne or floating in a fluid.

(intransitive) To be capable of floating.

To be filled with swimming animals.

(intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating.

To pass or move over or on by swimming; as, to swim a stream.

(intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly.

To cause or compel to swim; to make to float; as, to swim a horse across a river.

(intransitive) To drift gently through the air.

To immerse in water that the lighter parts may float; as, to swim wheat in order to select seed.

(intransitive) To move in a fluid manner.

To be dizzy; to have an unsteady or reeling sensation; as, the head swims.

To circulate.

The act of swimming; a gliding motion, like that of one swimming.

(aviation) To remain airborne, without touching down, for an excessive length of time during landing, due to excessive airspeed during the landing flare.

The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.

(of an idea or scheme) To be viable.

A part of a stream much frequented by fish.

(transitive) To propose (an idea) for consideration.

The act of swimming

(intransitive) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.

Travel through water;

(of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets, as opposed to by central fiat.

Be afloat; stay on a liquid surface; not sink

To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.

To extend a short-term loan to.

To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.

(transitive) To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.

(transitive) To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.

(transitive) To transport by float (vehicular trailer).

(poker) To perform a float.

To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.

A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.

A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.

A float board.

A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.

A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.

An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.

A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.

(British) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.

(finance) Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.

An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.

(banking) The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.

(insurance) Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.

(programming) A floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.

A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.

A small sum of money put in a cashier's till, or otherwise secured, at the start of business, to enable change to be made.

(poker) A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.

(knitting) One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.

(automotive) A car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination.

(transport) A lowboy trailer.

(obsolete) The act of flowing; flux; flow.

A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

A coal cart.

A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.

(computing) A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.

(biology) The gas-filled sac, bag, or body of a siphonophore; a pneumatophore.

Any object (element) whose location in composition (page makeup, pagination) does not flow within body text but rather floats outside of it, usually anchored loosely (in buoy metaphor) to spots within it (citations, callouts): a figure (image), table, box, pull quote, ornament, or other float element.

Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the liquid surface, or mark the place of, something.

A float board. See Float board (below).

A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die.

The act of flowing; flux; flow.

A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.

The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.

A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.

A coal cart.

The free use of money for a time between occurrence of a transaction (such as depositing a check or a purchase made using a credit card), and the time when funds are withdrawn to cover the transaction; also, the money made available between transactions in that manner.

A vehicle on which an exhibit or display is mounted, driven or pulled as part of a parade. The float often is based on a large flat platform, and may contain a very elaborate structure with a tableau or people.

To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up.

To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a fluid, or through the air.

To cause to float; to cause to rest or move on the surface of a fluid; as, the tide floated the ship into the harbor.

To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.

To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.

To support and sustain the credit of, as a commercial scheme or a joint-stock company, so as to enable it to go into, or continue in, operation.

The time interval between the deposit of a check in a bank and its payment

The number of shares outstanding and available for trading by the public

A drink with ice cream floating in it

An elaborate display mounted on a platform carried by a truck (or pulled by a truck) in a procession or parade

A hand tool with a flat face used for smoothing and finishing the surface of plaster or cement or stucco

Something that remains on the surface of a liquid

Be in motion due to some air or water current;

Be afloat; stay on a liquid surface; not sink

Set afloat;

Circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with;

Move lightly, as if suspended;

Put into the water;

Make the surface of level or smooth;

Allow (currencies) to fluctuate;

Convert from a fixed point notation to a floating point notation;