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Buoyed

 - 3 dictionary results
Polyform Buoys
Leader in buoys, fenders, and moorings for the fishing industry
www.polyformus.com

bu⋅oy

  [boo-ee, boi]
Use Buoyed in a Sentence
–noun
1. Nautical. a distinctively shaped and marked float, sometimes carrying a signal or signals, anchored to mark a channel, anchorage, navigational hazard, etc., or to provide a mooring place away from the shore.
2. a life buoy.
–verb (used with object)
3. to keep afloat or support by or as if by a life buoy; keep from sinking (often fol. by up): The life jacket buoyed her up until help arrived.
4. Nautical. to mark with a buoy or buoys.
5. to sustain or encourage (often fol. by up): Her courage was buoyed by the doctor's assurances.
–verb (used without object)
6. to float or rise by reason of lightness.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME boye a float < MF *boie, boue(e) < Gmc; akin to beacon

Synonyms:
5. lift, uplift, boost, lighten; maintain, nurture.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Buoyed
Polyform Buoys
Leader in buoys, fenders, and moorings for the fishing industry
www.polyformus.com
buoy   (bōō'ē, boi)   
n.  

  1. A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel.

  2. A life buoy.

tr.v.   buoyed, buoy·ing, buoys

  1. To keep afloat or aloft: a glider buoyed by air currents.

    1. To maintain at a high level; support: "the persistent ... takeover speculation, which has buoyed up the shares of banks" (Financial Times).

    2. To hearten or inspire; uplift: "buoyed up by the team spirit and the pride of the older generation back at home" (Judith Martin).

  3. To mark with or as if with a buoy.


[Middle English boie, from Old French boue, probably of Germanic origin; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

buoy  (n.)
1296, perhaps from either O.Fr. buie or M.Du. boeye, both from W.Gmc. *baukn "beacon" (cf. O.H.G. bouhhan, O.Fris. baken). O.E.D., however, supports M.Du. boeie, or O.Fr. boie "fetter, chain" (see boy), "because of its being fettered to a spot." The verb, in the fig. sense (of spirits, etc.) is from 1645.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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