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flotation - 6 dictionary results
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flo⋅ta⋅tion

  [floh-tey-shuhn]
Use flotation in a Sentence
–noun
1. an act or state of floating.
2. the launching of a commercial venture, bond issue, loan, etc.
3. Metallurgy. a process for separating the different minerals in a mass of powdered ore based on their tendency to sink in, or float on, a given liquid.
4. the science of floating bodies.
Also, floatation.

Origin:
1800–10; float + -ation; cf. F flottaison (see flotsam )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flotation
flo·ta·tion also float·a·tion   (flō-tā'shən)   
n.  
  1. The act, process, or condition of floating. Also called flotage.
  2. The act or an instance of launching or initiating, especially the floating of stocks or bonds or the financing of a business venture by floating stocks or bonds.
  3. The process of separating different materials, especially minerals, by agitating a pulverized mixture of the materials with water, oil, and chemicals. Differential wetting of the suspended particles causes unwetted particles to be carried by air bubbles to the surface for collection.
  4. The capability, especially of a vehicle tread or tire, to remain on top of a soft surface, such as sand, wet ground, or snow.
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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Flotation

Flo*ta"tion\, n. [Cf. F. flottation a floating, flottaison water line, fr. flotter to float. See Flotilla.]

1. The act, process, or state of floating.

2. The science of floating bodies.

Center of flotation. (Shipbuilding) (a) The center of any given plane of flotation. (b) More commonly, the middle of the length of the load water line. --Rankine.

Plane, or Line, of flotation, the plane or line in which the horizontal surface of a fluid cuts a body floating in it. See Bearing, n., 9 (c) .

Surface of flotation (Shipbuilding), the imaginary surface which all the planes of flotation touch when a vessel rolls or pitches; the envelope of all such planes.

Flotation

Flo*ta"tion\, n. (Com. & Finance) Act of financing, or floating, a commercial venture or an issue of bonds, stock, or the like.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Flotation

The process of changing a private company into a public company by issuing shares and soliciting the public to purchase them.

Investopedia Commentary

By doing an IPO, the company is able to obtain financing from sources outside of its regular business. This helps finance projects that return the founder's initial investment. Also known as "going public."

See also: Corporate Finance, IPO, Private Equity

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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flotation flo·ta·tion (flō-tā'shən)
n.
The process of separating different materials, especially minerals, by agitating a pulverized mixture of the materials with water, oil, and chemicals. Differential wetting of the suspended particles causes unwetted particles to be carried by air bubbles to the surface for collection.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Flotation
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www.floatation-tanks.co.uk