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buoy
7 dictionary results for: buoy
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bu·oy 
[boo-ee, boi] Pronunciation Key
[boo-ee, boi] Pronunciation Key –noun
–verb (used with object)
–verb (used without object)
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 6. | to float or rise by reason of lightness. |
—Synonyms 5. lift, uplift, boost, lighten; maintain, nurture.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| buoy
(bōō'ē, boi) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. buoyed, buoy·ing, buoys
[Middle English boie, from Old French boue, probably of Germanic origin; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
buoy (n.)
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
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| buoy | |
noun | |
| 1. | bright-colored; a float attached by rope to the seabed to mark channels in a harbor or underwater hazards |
verb | |
| 1. | float on the surface of water |
| 2. | keep afloat; "The life vest buoyed him up" |
| 3. | mark with a buoy |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Buoy
Buoy\, n. [D. boei buoy, fetter, fr. OF. boie, buie, chain, fetter, F. bou['e]e a buoy, from L. boia. "Boiae genus vinculorum tam ferreae quam ligneae." --Festus. So called because chained to its place.] (Naut.) A float; esp. a floating object moored to the bottom, to mark a channel or to point out the position of something beneath the water, as an anchor, shoal, rock, etc. Anchor buoy, a buoy attached to, or marking the position of, an anchor. Bell buoy, a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be rung by the motion of the waves. Breeches buoy. See under Breeches. Cable buoy, an empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in rocky anchorage. Can buoy, a hollow buoy made of sheet or boiler iron, usually conical or pear-shaped. Life buoy, a float intended to support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them. Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the action of the waves.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Buoy
Buoy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buoyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Buoying.]1. To keep from sinking in a fluid, as in water or air; to keep afloat; -- with up. 2. To support or sustain; to preserve from sinking into ruin or despondency. Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous mass of his nobility, wealth, and title. --Burke. 3. To fix buoys to; to mark by a buoy or by buoys; as, to buoy an anchor; to buoy or buoy off a channel. Not one rock near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this floating weed. --Darwin.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Buoy
Buoy\, v. i. To float; to rise like a buoy. "Rising merit will buoy up at last." --Pope.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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