 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
buoy
noun: 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" [syn: {buoy up}]
3: mark with a buoy
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Buoy \Buoy\ (bwoi or boi; 277), noun [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 buoy} 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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Buoy \Buoy\, verb (used with an object) [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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Buoy \Buoy\, verb (used without an object)
To float; to rise like a buoy. ''Rising merit will buoy up at
last.'' --Pope.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
121 Moby Thesaurus words for "buoy":
Carling float, Mae West, Roman candle, aid to navigation, alarm,
amber light, balefire, balsa, balsa raft, beacon, beacon fire,
bear up, bell, bell buoy, blinker, blue peter, bob, boom,
breeches buoy, buoy up, caution light, cork, cork jacket,
ejection capsule, ejection seat, ejector seat, elevate, flare,
float, float high, fog bell, fog signal, fog whistle, foghorn,
glance, go light, gong buoy, green light, hearten, heliograph,
high sign, hold up, international alphabet flag,
international numeral pennant, keep up, kick, leer, life belt,
life buoy, life jacket, life net, life preserver, life raft,
life ring, life vest, lifeboat, lifeline, lift, lollipop,
marker beacon, nod, nudge, parachute, parachute flare, pilot flag,
poke, police whistle, pontoon, quarantine flag, radio beacon, raft,
raise, red flag, red light, ride high, rocket, rubber dinghy,
safety belt, sailing aid, semaphore, semaphore flag,
semaphore telegraph, sign, signal, signal beacon, signal bell,
signal fire, signal flag, signal gong, signal gun, signal lamp,
signal light, signal mast, signal post, signal rocket, signal shot,
signal siren, signal tower, siren, spar buoy, stop light, support,
surfboard, sustain, the nod, the wink, touch, traffic light,
traffic signal, upbear, uphold, uplift, upraise, waft, watch fire,
water wings, white flag, wigwag, wigwag flag, wink, yellow flag
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