Definition

Noun: A small, inflatable boat or float designed as an emergency vessel for people to use if they must abandon a ship or aircraft.

Usage

A "life raft" is a critical piece of safety equipment stored on ships and aircraft. It is deployed in emergencies when the main vessel is sinking or disabled. The term specifically refers to the emergency raft itself.

Examples

• The captain ordered the crew to deploy the life raft after the ship began taking on water.
• All passengers must know the location of the life raft on this ferry.
• The survivors clung to the life raft until the coast guard arrived.

Advanced Usage

• "To launch/inflate a life raft": This describes the action of deploying the raft, which often involves pulling a cord to trigger automatic inflation with compressed gas.
  • The steward demonstrated how to inflate the life raft in under a minute.
• "Life raft capacity": Refers to the maximum number of people a specific raft is designed to hold.
  • Check the label to ensure we do not exceed the life raft capacity.

Variants and Related Words

• Lifeboat (noun): A larger, often rigid-hulled rescue boat carried on ships. While similar in purpose, a lifeboat is typically not inflatable and may be motorized.
• Liferaft (noun): A common alternative spelling, written as one word.
• Dinghy (noun): A small boat, but one typically used for general purposes, not specifically for emergencies.
• Emergency raft (noun): A more general descriptive term.

Synonyms

• Rescue raft
• Survival craft
• Emergency float

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "A life raft in a sea of trouble": An idiom using the concept metaphorically to describe something that provides crucial help or hope during a very difficult situation.
  • The grant money was a life raft in a sea of trouble for the struggling charity.

Noun

1. a raft to use if a ship must be abandoned in an emergency