Definition

1. Noun:
   • An insurance policy covering loss of movable property regardless of its location: A type of insurance, often for valuable items like jewelry, that provides coverage no matter where the item is.
   • An object that floats or is capable of floating: Any item that rests on the surface of a liquid or is buoyant.
   • A swimmer who floats in the water: A person who can stay on the water's surface with little effort.
   • A voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election: An individual who commits voter fraud by casting ballots in multiple locations.
   • An employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed: A worker without a fixed position, used flexibly across different tasks or departments.
   • A wanderer with no established residence or visible means of support: A person who drifts from place to place without a permanent home or obvious income.
   • A debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to another interest rate: A financial security, like a bond or loan, whose interest rate changes based on a benchmark rate.
   • Spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humor: Small, shadowy shapes that appear to drift in one's field of vision, caused by tiny clumps in the eye's gel-like fluid.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • We added a floater to our policy to cover her engagement ring while traveling. (Insurance policy)
  • The child's toy boat was a bright yellow floater. (Floating object)
  • As a good floater, he could relax on his back for long periods. (Swimmer)
  • Authorities investigated the man as a potential floater in the election. (Illegal voter)
  • The company uses a floater to fill in for receptionists and data entry clerks. (Flexible employee)
  • He lived as a floater, moving from one city to the next. (Wanderer)
  • The bank offered a floater whose rate was pegged to the LIBOR. (Debt instrument)
  • She went to the optometrist because she was seeing floaters in her left eye. (Eye spots)

Advanced Usage

• "Floater" in sports: In some team sports like basketball or soccer, a "floater" can refer to a specific type of shot or kick that is lofted softly over defenders.
  • The guard made a beautiful floater over the center to score.
• "Floater" in business (informal): Can refer to a check that is written with the expectation that funds will be deposited before it clears the bank.
  • He wrote a floater, hoping his paycheck would arrive in time.

Variants and Related Words

• Float (verb): To rest or move on the surface of a liquid; to move lightly or freely.
• Floating (adjective): Buoyant on a liquid; not fixed in one place.
• Non-floater (noun): Opposite term, often for a fixed-rate financial instrument or a permanent employee.

Synonyms

• Insurance rider (for the insurance meaning).
• Buoy (for a floating object).
• Drifter, transient, vagrant (for a wanderer).
• Temporary worker, utility player (for a flexible employee).
• Muscae volitantes (medical term for eye floaters).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• To float an idea: To suggest an idea tentatively to gauge reaction.
  • He floated the idea of a four-day workweek at the meeting.
• To float a company: To launch a company on the stock market.
  • The tech startup plans to float next year.

Related Idioms

• "Floater in the toilet" (vulgar slang): A piece of feces that remains visible in the toilet bowl after flushing.
• "To be a floater": To have a social role where one moves between different groups.
  • In high school, she was a floater, friends with everyone.

Noun

1. an insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewelry) regardless of its location
2. an object that floats or is capable of floating
3. a swimmer who floats in the water
4. a voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election
5. an employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed
6. a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support
7. a debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills)
8. spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humor and lens
   • floaters seem to drift through the field of vision