raft en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ɹɑːft/ (UK)
- (US) audio
- /ɹæft/ (US)
Etymology
Late Middle English, of North Germanic origin, from West Old Norse raptr, from Proto-Germanic *raf-tra-, from Proto-Indo-European *rap-tro-, from *rep- (“stake, beam”). See also Norwegian raft (“beam, rafter”), Danish raft (“thin pole”). Compare also Albanian trap (“raft, ferry”).
Meanings
-
A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform.
They floated down the river on an inflatable raft
-
(broadly) Any flattish thing, usually wooden, used in a similar fashion.
Even though in a way you let him freeze to death in the water, because the way I see it... I agree. Y'know, I think he actually could have fitted on that bit of door. There was plenty of room on the raft. I know. I know, I know.
2016 February 2, Kate Winslet et al., Jimmy Kimmel Live!:When George Stephenson built the Liverpool & Manchester Railway he encountered the same difficulty at Chat Moss and solved the problem by constructing a kind of raft made of brushwood that more or less floated on the surface of the bog. On this he placed as much firm soil as his raft could carry, when the operation was repeated, the first raft being thereby sunk with its load of solid earth, which was not displaced.
1934 February, G. W. Tripp, “How Nature Harasses the Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 79:
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(collective) A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water.
Margaret River itself, although it seems to be Scott River by Prevelly, flows into the Indian Ocean and creates a sandbank, where sat a raft of terns and gulls.
2010, Andy Gibb, The Honeyeaters' Tree, page 32:Occasionally, there was a large black raft of birds far out at sea.
2025, Eduard Drost, Birds on the Brink: South Africa’s Threatened Bird Species and Those Working to Save Them, Penguin Random House South Africa:Pelicans, bills stuck forward, would gather in small rafts to move along in comical formation, before diving in unison […]
2010, John Roome, A Persistent Passage, page 140:
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(broadly, collective) A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water. ▸ A group of aquatic mammals, especially otters and especially when visible on the surface of the water.
a raft of otters was feeding at the depth of three hundred feet (50 fathoms)
1979, Jane H. Bailey, Sea Otter, El Moro Publications:News of Smith's discovery of the South Shetland Islands, and of the rafts of seals along their shores, spread quickly.
2015, Kenneth J. Panton, Historical Dictionary of the British Empire, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, page 497:Two score and more of young, able-bodied men they were, to be sure, strong enough, I dare say, to tow a raft of whales alongside in any latitude.
1852 May, H. Milnor Knapp, “The Master's Mate's Yarn”, in Graham's Magazine, page 166:A raft of sea lions playing "king of the buoy".
1999 April, J. Michael Hemsley, Kathleen C. O'Neil and LTJG Lee H. Allison, USCG, “Evicting Sea Lions”, in Mariners Weather Log, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Data and Information Service, page 25:A raft of otters at rest in the river.
2019, Jennifer McCartney, The Little Book of Otter Philosophy, HarperCollins Publishers:
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(collective) A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water. ▸ A group of alligators or crocodiles, especially when floating in water with their backs visible above the surface.
There are monkeys, sloths, macaws, parrots, pigeons, toucans, and many other wood-loving creatures; herons, screamers, jacanas, and jabiru storks in the marshes, capybaras on the shores, and rafts of crocodiles on the playas.
1921 October 14, Frank M. Chapman, “Over the Andes to Bogota”, in The National Geographic Magazine, page 373:She even pointed out a bank where a raft of crocodiles lay dozing, baking their scaly backs in the sun.
2010, Esther Friesner, Sphinx's Queen, Random House Children's Books:navigation was obstructed by a raft of alligators
1872 October 4, S. Compton Smith, “An Alligator Story”, in The American Scrap Book and Magazine of United States Literature, volume 2, page 379:
- (US) A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. which obstructs navigation in a river.
- (US, qualifier:when ordering food, slang) A slice of toast.
- A square array of sensors forming part of a large telescope.
- A mass of congealed solids that forms on a consommé because of the protein in the egg white.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| rafts | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
fire raft · skinheads on a raft · raftmate · cataraft · Christ on a raft · raft port · raftless · raftsman · raftswoman · Moses on a raft · raftophilic · raftman · pumice raft · Adam and Eve on a raft · raftlike · packraft · raft duck · raftage · raft-rope · raftable · raft-up · life raft · raft dog · raftload
Synonyms
Translations (138)
mi mōkihi (flat, floating structure) · as ভেল (flat, floating structure) · de Schlauchboot (inflatable floating craft) · tg амад (flat, floating structure) · es balsa (flat, floating structure) · nl vlot (flat, floating structure) · pt balsa (flat, floating structure) · te తెప్ప (flat, floating structure) · el σχεδία (flat, floating structure) · alt сал (flat, floating structure) · fi lautta (inflatable floating craft) · th แพ (flat, floating structure) · ota صال (flat, floating structure) · fr canot pneumatique (inflatable floating craft) · tg сал (flat, floating structure) · isd xakit (flat, floating structure) · la ratis (flat, floating structure) · ko 뗏목 (flat, floating structure) · kk сал (flat, floating structure) · as ভূৰ (flat, floating structure) · ga rafta (flat, floating structure) · af vlot (flat, floating structure) · my ဖောင် (flat, floating structure) · bn ভেলা (flat, floating structure) · ast auxiliar (inflatable floating craft) · rkt bhura (flat, floating structure) · eo floso (flat, floating structure) · ru рафт (inflatable floating craft) · mba gakit (flat, floating structure) · he רַפסוֹדָה (flat, floating structure) · nl rubberboot (inflatable floating craft) · mn сал (flat, floating structure) · ka ტივი (flat, floating structure) · sv flotte (inflatable floating craft) · ba һал (inflatable floating craft) · zh 槎 (flat, floating structure) · uk пліт (flat, floating structure) · it zattera (flat, floating structure) · sh спла̑в (flat, floating structure) · ceb gakit (flat, floating structure) · prs سَل (flat, floating structure) · sh gumènjāk (inflatable floating craft) · mbb gakit (flat, floating structure) · pl tratwa (inflatable floating craft) · mfe rado (flat, floating structure) · ba һал (flat, floating structure) · cmn 筏 (flat, floating structure) · cmn 木排 (flat, floating structure) · fi lautta (flat, floating structure) · rkt ভূৰা (flat, floating structure) · sh гумѐња̄к (inflatable floating craft) · de Floß (flat, floating structure) · lt plaustas (flat, floating structure) · ro plută (flat, floating structure) · tl lamo (flat, floating structure) · cs vor (flat, floating structure) · fa-ira بَلَم (flat, floating structure) · gl balsa (inflatable floating craft) · tt сал (flat, floating structure) · ar رَمَث (flat, floating structure) · sh splȃv (flat, floating structure) · fr radeau (flat, floating structure) · uz sol (flat, floating structure) · io rafto (flat, floating structure) · ru плот (flat, floating structure) · pt jangada (flat, floating structure) · fa-ira کَلَک (flat, floating structure) · ar طَوْف (flat, floating structure) · sq trap (flat, floating structure) · io rafto (inflatable floating craft) · ca rai (flat, floating structure) · ast bote (flat, floating structure) · tk sal (flat, floating structure) · is fleki (flat, floating structure) · nv tsin naaʼeeł (flat, floating structure) · vo boadafloted (flat, floating structure) · ur بیڑا (flat, floating structure) · mk сплав (flat, floating structure) · pa ਬੇੜਾ (flat, floating structure) · vi bè (flat, floating structure) · gl balsa (flat, floating structure) · tr sal (flat, floating structure) · ky сал (flat, floating structure) · hi बेड़ा (flat, floating structure) · cs raft (inflatable floating craft) · ar قَارِب مَطَّاطِيّ (inflatable floating craft) · km ក្បូន (flat, floating structure) · syl ꠜꠥꠞꠣ (flat, floating structure) · mt ċatra (flat, floating structure) · ce бурам (flat, floating structure) · da flåde (flat, floating structure) · be плыт (flat, floating structure) · la trabica (flat, floating structure) · ltg sīlejs (flat, floating structure) · et parv (flat, floating structure) · cmn 橡皮艇 (inflatable floating craft) · ug سال (flat, floating structure) · it gommone (inflatable floating craft) · rkt ভূরা (flat, floating structure) · hy լաստ (flat, floating structure) · hu tutaj (flat, floating structure) · ast chalana (flat, floating structure) · fa-ira کَرَجی (flat, floating structure) · sv flotte (flat, floating structure) · ms rakit (flat, floating structure) · cy rafft (flat, floating structure) · ru плот (inflatable floating craft) · vo floted (flat, floating structure) · fo flaki (flat, floating structure) · nb flåte (flat, floating structure) · grc σχεδία (flat, floating structure) · fi kumilautta (inflatable floating craft) · cmn 木筏 (flat, floating structure) · ja いかだ (flat, floating structure) · id rakit (flat, floating structure) · ast bote (inflatable floating craft) · sl splav (flat, floating structure) · pdt Plut (flat, floating structure) · he רַפְסוֹדָה (inflatable floating craft) · ps سل (flat, floating structure) · bg сал (flat, floating structure) · rcf rado (flat, floating structure) · ja ラフト (inflatable floating craft) · kmr kelek (flat, floating structure) · pl tratwa (flat, floating structure) · lo ແພ (flat, floating structure) · msk gakit (flat, floating structure) · txb plewe (flat, floating structure) · cmn 竹筏 (flat, floating structure) · nn flote (flat, floating structure) · mi mōkī (flat, floating structure) · sk plť (flat, floating structure) · nn flåte (flat, floating structure) · cs plť (flat, floating structure) · lv plosts (flat, floating structure) · az sal (flat, floating structure) · yi פּליט (flat, floating structure) · mnc ᠠᡩᠠ (flat, floating structure)