"float" is also a keyword is programming languages like Java and C/C++ which defines a floating point variable. Related keywords include:
int
long
double
long double
void
char
signed
unsigned
const
static
A generic term for a concoction involving ice cream floating in some sort of liquid refreshment. The most common variant is a root beer float, but there are many things that can bes used for a tasty treat. Coca-Cola, Vernors (or another brand of ginger ale), lemonade (the sweeter mix kind, not one with real lemon juice in it), and orange soda all work well.

First, take yourself a frozen glass or mug. A warm one works also, but does not have quite as good of an effect.

Then, you can do it in one of two ways. Add the ice cream to the glass first, then pour the beverage over it. This melts the ice cream and gives a foamy texture really quickly.

Or you can add the ice cream to the top after adding the beverage. The ice cream melts more slowly, taking longer to create the milky liquid that is left over, diluting the drink less and giving you more ice cream to eat.

And oddly, as I found out with adoxograph and sarcasmo, there is the occasional place that makes one by adding carbonated water to the glass and giving you a glass of your beverage on the side. Very, very odd. Apparently not good to drink the water used.


It was also a term we used back when I was a bagger at Meijer. When you were told to go "float", it meant to go around helping other baggers collect shopping carts out in the parking lot, but that you weren't assigned to any specific area of the lot - you were to help whoever needed it the most.

A float is also an amount of money that one keeps in the till of a retail operation. It is limited to a certain amount, and any taking above this are taken out, and either banked or (hopefully) locked in a safe. It is normally made up of set amounts of various denominations, whether coinage or notes, and serves to ensure that the shop or store has enough change each day to commence operations.

I am confused, however, as to how a float operates in a 24/7 operation.

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Property
float
Values
left, right, none
Initial
none
Inherited
no

With the value 'none', the element will be displayed where it appears in the text. With a value of 'left' ('right') the element will be moved to the left (right) and the text will wrap on the right (left) side of the element. With a value of 'left' or 'right', the element is treated as block-level (i.e. the 'display' property is ignored).

      IMG.icon { 
      float: left;
      margin-left: 0;
      }

The above example will place all IMG elements with 'CLASS=icon' along the left side of the parent element.

This property is most often used with inline images, but also applies to text elements.

Also a large, rasp-like tool used to file the teeth of a horse. It's about 12" in length, with various carbide surfaces that go on a rectangular pad on the end. In the wild, horses graze the majority of the time causing plenty of wear on their teeth. Modern domestic horses are typically fed smaller meals multiple times a day and do not get as much wear. Because of this, you have to periodically float a horse's teeth to keep them from growing sharp and causing cuts in it's mouth. So, you basically take this big old float and file down the teeth, which can be quite a workout. Generally this should be done about once a year, but it depends on the tooth enamel and diet of the horse in question.

In cycling, float is the degree to which you are able to rotate your feet on the pedals along the horizonal plane (in other words, rotation around around the y axis or rotation on the tops of the pedals). This ability is normally represented in "degrees of float". To be absolutely unable to rotate your feet would be to have zero float. Most clipless pedals have somewhere between 4 and 8 degrees of float.

Some float is generally desired for anyone without absolutely perfect pedalling biomechanics, as it is easier on the knees.

(v) Economic - to be subject to market forces of supply and demand. In monetary exchange, and action a government takes to remove pegs and permit the devaluation or appreciation from a peg value by arbitrage traders.

Float (?), n.[OE. flote ship, boat, fleet, AS. flota ship, fr. fleotan to float; akin to D. vloot fleet, G. floss raft, Icel. floti float, raft, fleet, Sw. flotta. &root; 84. See Fleet, v. i., and cf. Flotilla, Flotsam, Plover.]

1.

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

. Specifically: (a)

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

. (b)

The hollow, metallic ball of a self-acting faucet, which floats upon the water in a cistern or boiler

. (c)

The cork or quill used in angling, to support the bait line, and indicate the bite of a fish

. (d)

Anything used to buoy up whatever is liable to sink; an inflated bag or pillow used by persons learning to swim; a life preserver.

This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry. J. P. Peters.

2.

A float board. See Float board (below).

3. Tempering

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

Knight.

4.

The act of flowing; flux; flow.

[Obs.]

Bacon.

5.

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

[Obs.]

Mortimer.

6. Plastering

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

7.

A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

Knight.

8.

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

9.

A coal cart.

[Eng.]

Simmonds.

10.

The sea; a wave. See Flote, n.

Float board, one of the boards fixed radially to the rim of an undershot water wheel or of a steamer's paddle wheel; -- a vane. -- Float case Naut., a caisson used for lifting a ship. -- Float copper ∨ gold Mining, fine particles of metallic copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to be lost. -- Float ore, water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop. Raymond. -- Float stone Arch., a siliceous stone used to rub stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface. -- Float valve, a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See Float, 1 (b).

 

© Webster 1913.


Float, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Floated; p. pr. & vb. n. Floating.] [OE. flotien, flotten, AS. flotian to float, swim, fr. fleotan. See Float, n.]

1.

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

The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. Milton.

Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast, I floated. Dryden.

2.

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.

They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. Pope.

There seems a floating whisper on the hills. Byron.

 

© Webster 1913.


Float, v. t.

1.

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.

Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock. Southey.

2.

To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.

Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands. Dryden.

3. Plastering

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

4.

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.

 

© Webster 1913.

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