Fling - Floating

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Coloq. To fling about , to throw on all sides; to scatter. -- Coloq. To fling away , to reject; to discard.
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Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition. Shak.
-- Coloq. To fling down . (a) To throw to the ground; esp., to throw in defiance, as formerly knights cast a glove into the arena as a challenge.
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This question so flung down before the guests, . . .
Was handed over by consent of all
To me who had not spoken. Tennyson.
(b) To overturn; to demolish; to ruin. -- Coloq. To fling in , to throw in; not to charge in an account; as, in settling accounts, one party flings in a small sum, or a few days' work. -- Coloq. To fling off , to baffle in the chase; to defeat of prey; also, to get rid of. Addison. -- Coloq. To fling open , to throw open; to open suddenly or with violence; as, to fling open a door. -- Coloq. To fling out , to utter; to speak in an abrupt or harsh manner; as, to fling out hard words against another. -- Coloq. To fling up , to relinquish; to abandon; as, to fling up a design.
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Fling (?), v. i. 1. To throw; to wince; to flounce; as, the horse began to kick and fling.
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2. To cast in the teeth; to utter abusive language; to sneer; as, the scold began to flout and fling.
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3. To throw one's self in a violent or hasty manner; to rush or spring with violence or haste.
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And crop-full, out of doors he flings. Milton.
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I flung closer to his breast,
As sword that, after battle, flings to sheath. Mrs. Browning.
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Coloq. To fling out , to become ugly and intractable; to utter sneers and insinuations.
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Fling, n. 1. A cast from the hand; a throw; also, a flounce; a kick; as, the fling of a horse.
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2. A severe or contemptuous remark; an expression of sarcastic scorn; a gibe; a sarcasm.
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I, who love to have a fling,
Both at senate house and king. Swift.
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3. A kind of dance; as, the Highland fling.
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4. A trifing matter; an object of contempt. [Obs.]
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England were but a fling
Save for the crooked stick and the gray goose wing. Old Proverb.
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5. a short period during which one indulges one's wishes, whims, or desires in an unrestrained manner.
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6. a love affair.
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7. a casual or brief attempt to accomplish something. [informal]
Syn. -- shot.
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8. a period during which one tries a new activity; as, he took a fling at playing tennis.
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Coloq. To have one's fling , to enjoy one's self to the full; to have a season of dissipation. J. H. Newman. “When I was as young as you, I had my fling. I led a life of pleasure.” D. Jerrold.
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Flingdust (?), n. One who kicks up the dust; a streetwalker; a low manner. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
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Flinger (?), n. One who flings; one who jeers.
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Flint (?), n. [AS. flint, akin to Sw. flinta, Dan. flint; cf. OHG. flins flint, G. flinte gun (cf. E. flintlock), perh. akin to Gr. � brick. Cf. .] 1. (Min.) A massive, somewhat impure variety of quartz, in color usually of a gray to brown or nearly black, breaking with a conchoidal fracture and sharp edge. It is very hard, and strikes fire with steel.
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2. A piece of flint for striking fire; -- formerly much used, esp. in the hammers of gun locks.
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3. Anything extremely hard, unimpressible, and unyielding, like flint. “A heart of flint.” Spenser.
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Coloq. Flint age . (Geol.) Same as Stone age, under . -- Coloq. Flint brick , a fire made principially of powdered silex. -- Coloq. Flint glass . See in the Vocabulary. -- Coloq. Flint implements (Archæol.), tools, etc., employed by men before the use of metals, such as axes, arrows, spears, knives, wedges, etc., which were commonly made of flint, but also of granite, jade, jasper, and other hard stones. -- Coloq. Flint mill . (a) (Pottery) A mill in which flints are ground. (b) (Mining) An obsolete appliance for lighting the miner at his work, in which flints on a revolving wheel were made to produce a shower of sparks, which gave light, but did not inflame the fire damp. Knight. -- Coloq. Flint stone , a hard, siliceous stone; a flint. -- Coloq. Flint wall , a kind of wall, common in England, on the face of which are exposed the black surfaces of broken flints set in the mortar, with quions of masonry. -- Coloq. Liquor of flints , a solution of silica, or flints, in potash. -- Coloq. To skin a flint , to be capable of, or guilty of, any expedient or any meanness for making money. [Colloq.]
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Flint glass (?). (Chem.) A soft, heavy, brilliant glass, consisting essentially of a silicate of lead and potassium. It is used for tableware, and for optical instruments, as prisms, its density giving a high degree of dispersive power; -- so called, because formerly the silica was obtained from pulverized flints. Called also crystal glass. Cf. .
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☞ The concave or diverging half on an achromatic lens is usually made of flint glass.
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Flint-hearted (?), a. Hard-hearted. Shak.
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Flintiness (?), n. The state or quality of being flinty; hardness; cruelty. Beau. & Fl.
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Flintlock (?), n. 1. A lock for a gun or pistol, having a flint fixed in the hammer, which on striking the steel ignites the priming.
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2. A hand firearm fitted with a flintlock; esp., the old-fashioned musket of European and other armies.
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Flintware (?), n. A superior kind of earthenware into whose composition flint enters largely. Knight.
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Flintwood (?), n. (Bot.) An Australian name for the very hard wood of the Eucalyptus piluralis.
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Flinty (?), a. [Compar. Flintier (?); superl. Flintiest.] Consisting of, composed of, abounding in, or resembling, flint; as, a flinty rock; flinty ground; a flinty heart.
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Coloq. Flinty rock , or Coloq. Flinty state , a siliceous slate; -- basanite is here included. See .
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Flip (flĭp), n. [Cf. Prov. E. flip nimble, flippant, also, a slight blow. Cf. .] A mixture of beer, spirit, etc., stirred and heated by a hot iron.
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Coloq. Flip dog , an iron used, when heated, to warm flip.
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Flip, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flipped (flĭpt); p. pr. & vb. n. Flipping.] 1. To toss (an object) into the air so as make it turn over one or more times; to fillip; as, to flip up a cent.
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As when your little ones
Do 'twixt their fingers flip their cherry stones. W. Browne.
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2. To turn (a flat object) over with a quick motion; as, to flip a card over; to flip a pancake.
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3. To cause (a person) to turn against former colleagues, such as to become a witness for the state, in a criminal prosecution in which the person is a defendant. [cant]
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4. (Finance) To resell (an asset) rapidly to make a quick profit. [cant]
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Flip, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flipped (flĭpt); p. pr. & vb. n. Flipping.] To become insane or irrational; -- often used with out; as, seeing her mother killed made the girl flip out.
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Flipe (flīp), v. t. To turn inside out, or with the leg part back over the foot, as a stocking in pulling off or for putting on. [Scot.]
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Flip-flap (?), n. [See , and .] The repeated stroke of something long and loose. Johnson.
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Flip-flap, adv. With repeated strokes and noise, as of something long and loose. Ash.
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Flippancy (?), n.[See .] The state or quality of being flippant.
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This flippancy of language. Bp. Hurd.
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Flippant (?), a. [Prov. E. flip to move nimbly; cf. W. llipa soft, limber, pliant, or Icel. fleipa to babble, prattle. Cf. , , , .] 1. Of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; speaking with ease and rapidity; having a voluble tongue; talkative.
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It becometh good men, in such cases, to be flippant and free in their speech. Barrow.
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2. Speaking fluently and confidently, without knowledge or consideration; empty; trifling; inconsiderate; pert; petulant. “Flippant epilogues.” Thomson.
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To put flippant scorn to the blush. I. Taylor.
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A sort of flippant, vain discourse. Burke.
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Flippant, n. A flippant person. [R.] Tennyson.
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Flippantly, adv. In a flippant manner.
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Flippantness, n. State or quality of being flippant.
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Flipper (?), n. [Cf. , .] 1. (Zoöl.) A broad flat limb used for swimming, as those of seals, sea turtles, whales, etc.
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2. (Naut.) The hand. [Slang]
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flippers n. flipper [By analogy with flipper[W13(1)], the limb of an aquatic animal used for locomotion] A type of shoe with a paddle-like front extending well beyond the end of the toe, used an aid in swimming (especially underwater). They are typically of rubber-like material, and are not worn when walking on land.
Syn. -- fin, fins.
[WordNet 1.5]

Flirt (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flirted; p. pr. & vb. n. Flirting.] [Cf. AS. fleard trifle, folly, fleardian to trifle.] 1. To throw with a jerk or quick effort; to fling suddenly; as, they flirt water in each other's faces; he flirted a glove, or a handkerchief.
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2. To toss or throw about; to move playfully to and fro; as, to flirt a fan.
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3. To jeer at; to treat with contempt; to mock. [Obs.]
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I am ashamed; I am scorned; I am flirted. Beau. & Fl.
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Flirt, v. i. 1. To run and dart about; to act with giddiness, or from a desire to attract notice; especially, to play the coquette; to play at courtship; to coquet; as, they flirt with the young men.
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2. To utter contemptuous language, with an air of disdain; to jeer or gibe. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
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Flirt, n. 1. A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion; hence, a jeer.
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Several little flirts and vibrations. Addison.
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With many a flirt and flutter. E. A. Poe.
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2. [Cf. LG. flirtje, G. flirtchen. See , v. t.] One who flirts; esp., a woman who acts with giddiness, or plays at courtship; a coquette; a pert girl.
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Several young flirts about town had a design to cast us out of the fashionable world. Addison.
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Flirt, a. Pert; wanton. [Obs.]
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Flirtation (?), n. 1. Playing at courtship; coquetry.
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The flirtations and jealousies of our ball rooms. Macaulay.
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Flirt-gill (?), n. A woman of light behavior; a gill-flirt. [Obs.] Shak.
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You heard him take me up like a flirt-gill. Beau. & Fl.
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Flirtigig (?), n. A wanton, pert girl. [Obs.]
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Flirtingly, adv. In a flirting manner.
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Flisk (?), v. i. To frisk; to skip; to caper. [Obs. Scot.] “The flisking flies.” Gosson.
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Flisk, n. A caper; a spring; a whim. [Scot.]
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Flit (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flitted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Flitting (?).] [OE. flitten, flutten, to carry away; cf. Icel. flytja, Sw. flytta, Dan. flytte. √84. Cf. , v. i.] 1. To move with celerity through the air; to fly away with a rapid motion; to dart along; to fleet; as, a bird flits away; a cloud flits along.
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A shadow flits before me. Tennyson.
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2. To flutter; to rove on the wing. Dryden.
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3. To pass rapidly, as a light substance, from one place to another; to remove; to migrate.
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It became a received opinion, that the souls of men, departing this life, did flit out of one body into some other. Hooker.
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4. To remove from one place or habitation to another. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Wright. Jamieson.
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5. To be unstable; to be easily or often moved.
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And the free soul to flitting air resigned. Dryden.
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Flit, a. Nimble; quick; swift. [Obs.] See .
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Flitch (?), n.; pl. Flitches (#). [OE. flicche, flikke, AS. flicce, akin to Icel. flikki; cf. Icel. flīk flap, tatter; perh. akin to E. fleck. Cf. , n.] 1. The side of a hog salted and cured; a side of bacon. Swift.
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2. One of several planks, smaller timbers, or iron plates, which are secured together, side by side, to make a large girder or built beam.
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3. The outside piece of a sawed log; a slab. [Eng.]
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Flitch (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flitched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Flitching.] [See , n.] To cut into, or off in, flitches or strips; as, to flitch logs; to flitch bacon.
[Webster Suppl.]

Flite (?), v. i. [AS. flītan to strive, contend, quarrel; akin to G. fleiss industry.] To scold; to quarrel. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.
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{ Flite, Flyte } (?), n. [AS. flīt. See .] Strife; dispute; abusive or upbraiding talk, as in fliting; wrangling. [Obs. or Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

The bird of Pallas has also a good “flyte” on the moral side . . . in his suggestion that the principal effect of the nightingale's song is to make women false to their husbands. Saintsbury.
[Webster Suppl.]

Flitter (?), v. i. To flutter. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Flitter, v. t. To flutter; to move quickly; as, to flitter the cards. [R.] Lowell.
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Flitter, n. [Cf. G. flitter spangle, tinsel, flittern to make a tremulous motion, to glitter. Cf. , v. i.] A rag; a tatter; a small piece or fragment.
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Flittermouse (?), n. [Flitter, v.i. + mouse; cf. G. fledermaus, OHG. fledarmūs. Cf. , .] (Zoöl.) A bat; -- called also flickermouse, flindermouse, and flintymouse.
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Flittern (?), a. A term applied to the bark obtained from young oak trees. McElrath.
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Flittiness (?), n. [From .] Unsteadiness; levity; lightness. [Obs.] Bp. Hopkins.
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Flitting (?), n. 1. A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
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2. A removal from one habitation to another. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
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A neighbor had lent his cart for the flitting, and it was now standing loaded at the door, ready to move away. Jeffrey.
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{ Flitting, Flytting } (?), n. Contention; strife; scolding; specif., a kind of metrical contest between two persons, popular in Scotland in the 16th century. [Obs. or Scot.]

These “flytings” consisted of alternate torrents of sheer Billingsgate poured upon each other by the combatants. Saintsbury.
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Flittingly, adv. In a flitting manner.
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Flitty (?), a. [From .] Unstable; fluttering. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
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Flix (?), n. [Cf. .] Down; fur. [Obs. or Eng.] J. Dyer.
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Flix, n. The flux; dysentery. [Obs.] Udall.
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Coloq. Flix weed (Bot.), the Sisymbrium Sophia, a kind of hedge mustard, formerly used as a remedy for dysentery.
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Flo (flō), n.; pl. Flon (flōn). [AS. flā, flān.] An arrow. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Float (flōt), n.[OE. flote ship, boat, fleet, AS. flota ship, fr. fleótan to float; akin to D. vloot fleet, G. floss raft, Icel. floti float, raft, fleet, Sw. flotta. √ 84. See , v. i., and cf. , , .] 1. Anything which floats or rests on the surface of a fluid, as to sustain weight, or to indicate the height of the liquid 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. (e) The hollow, metallic ball which floats on the fuel in the fuel tank of a vehicle to indicate the level of the fuel surface, and thus the amount of fuel remaining. (f) A hollow elongated tank mounted under the wing of a seaplane which causes the plane to float when resting on the surface of the water.
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This reform bill . . . had been used as a float by the conservative ministry. J. P. Peters.
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2. A float board. See Float board (below).
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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.
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4. The act of flowing; flux; flow. [Obs.] Bacon.
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5. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep. [Obs.] Mortimer.
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6. (Plastering) The trowel or tool with which the floated coat of plastering is leveled and smoothed.
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7. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner. Knight.
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8. A single-cut file for smoothing; a tool used by shoemakers for rasping off pegs inside a shoe.
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9. A coal cart. [Eng.] Simmonds.
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10. The sea; a wave. See , n.
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11. (Banking) The free use of money for a time between occurrence of a transaction (such as depositing a check or a purchase made using a credit card), and the time when funds are withdrawn to cover the transaction; also, the money made available between transactions in that manner.
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12. a vehicle on which an exhibit or display is mounted, driven or pulled as part of a parade. The float often is based on a large flat platform, and may contain a very elaborate structure with a tableau or people.
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Coloq. 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. -- Coloq. Float case (Naut.), a caisson used for lifting a ship. -- Coloq. Float copper or Coloq. Float gold (Mining), fine particles of metallic copper or of gold suspended in water, and thus liable to be lost. -- Coloq. Float ore , water-worn particles of ore; fragments of vein material found on the surface, away from the vein outcrop. Raymond. -- Coloq. Float stone (Arch.), a siliceous stone used to rub stonework or brickwork to a smooth surface. -- Coloq. Float valve , a valve or cock acted upon by a float. See , 1 (b).
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Float, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Floated; p. pr. & vb. n. Floating.] [OE. flotien, flotten, AS. flotian to float, swim, fr. fleótan. See , n.] 1. To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed up.
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The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground. Milton.
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Three blustering nights, borne by the southern blast,
I floated. Dryden.
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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.
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They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. Pope.
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There seems a floating whisper on the hills. Byron.
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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.
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Had floated that bell on the Inchcape rock. Southey.
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2. To flood; to overflow; to cover with water.
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Proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands. Dryden.
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3. (Plastering) To pass over and level the surface of with a float while the plastering is kept wet.
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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.
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Floatable (?), a. That may be floated.
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Floatage (?; 48), n. Same as .
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Floatation (?), n. See .
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Floater (?), n. 1. One who floats or swims.
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2. A float for indicating the height of a liquid surface.
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3. (Politics) (a) A voter who shifts from party to party, esp. one whose vote is purchasable. [U. S.] (b) A person, as a delegate to a convention or a member of a legislature, who represents an irregular constituency, as one formed by a union of the voters of two counties neither of which has a number sufficient to be allowed a (or an extra) representative of its own. [U. S.] (c) A person who votes illegally in various polling places or election districts, either under false registration made by himself or under the name of some properly registered person who has not already voted. [U. S.]
[Webster Suppl.]

Floating, a. 1. Buoyed upon or in a fluid; a, the floating timbers of a wreck; floating motes in the air.
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2. Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating ribs in man and some other animals.
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3. Not funded; not fixed, invested, or determined; as, floating capital; a floating debt.
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Trade was at an end. Floating capital had been withdrawn in great masses from the island. Macaulay.
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Coloq. Floating anchor (Naut.), a drag or sea anchor; drag sail. -- Coloq. Floating battery (Mil.), a battery erected on rafts or the hulls of ships, chiefly for the defense of a coast or the bombardment of a place. -- Coloq. Floating bridge . (a) A bridge consisting of rafts or timber, with a floor of plank, supported wholly by the water; a bateau bridge. See . (b) (Mil.) A kind of double bridge, the upper one projecting beyond the lower one, and capable of being moved forward by pulleys; -- used for carrying troops over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort. (c) A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by means of chains which are anchored on each side of a stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels being driven by stream power. (d) The landing platform of a ferry dock. -- Coloq. Floating cartilage (Med.), a cartilage which moves freely in the cavity of a joint, and often interferes with the functions of the latter. -- Coloq. Floating dam . (a) An anchored dam. (b) A caisson used as a gate for a dry dock. -- Coloq. Floating derrick , a derrick on a float for river and harbor use, in raising vessels, moving stone for harbor improvements, etc. -- Coloq. Floating dock . (Naut.) See under . -- Coloq. Floating harbor , a breakwater of cages or booms, anchored and fastened together, and used as a protection to ships riding at anchor to leeward. Knight. -- Coloq. Floating heart (Bot.), a small aquatic plant (Limnanthemum lacunosum) whose heart-shaped leaves float on the water of American ponds. -- Coloq. Floating island , a dish for dessert, consisting of custard with floating masses of whipped cream or white of eggs. -- Coloq. Floating kidney . (Med.) See Wandering kidney, under . -- Coloq. Floating light , a light shown at the masthead of a vessel moored over sunken rocks, shoals, etc., to warn mariners of danger; a light-ship; also, a light erected on a buoy or floating stage. -- Coloq. Floating liver . (Med.) See Wandering liver, under . -- Coloq. Floating pier , a landing stage or pier which rises and falls with the tide. -- Coloq. Floating ribs (Anat.), the lower or posterior ribs which are not connected with the others in front; in man they are the last two pairs. -- Coloq. Floating screed (Plastering), a strip of plastering first laid on, to serve as a guide for the thickness of the coat. -- Coloq. Floating threads (Weaving), threads which span several other threads without being interwoven with them, in a woven fabric.
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