The difference between Float and Fly

When used as nouns, float means a buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid, whereas fly means any insect of the order diptera.

When used as verbs, float means of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface, whereas fly means to travel through the air, another gas or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.


Fly is also adjective with the meaning: quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.

check bellow for the other definitions of Float and Fly

  1. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    Of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.

    Examples:

    "The boat floated on the water."

    "The oil floated on the vinegar."

  2. Float as a verb (transitive):

    To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density.

    Examples:

    "to float a boat"

  3. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    To be capable of floating.

    Examples:

    "That boat doesn’t float."

    "Oil floats on vinegar."

  4. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating

    Examples:

    "I’d love to just float downstream."

  5. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    To drift or wander aimlessly.

    Examples:

    "I’m not sure where they went... they’re floating around here somewhere."

    "Images from my childhood floated through my mind."

  6. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    To drift gently through the air.

    Examples:

    "The balloon floated off into the distance."

  7. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    To move in a fluid manner.

    Examples:

    "The dancer floated gracefully around the stage."

  8. Float as a verb (intransitive, colloquial):

    (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.

    Examples:

    "That’s a daft idea... it’ll never float."

  9. Float as a verb (transitive):

    To propose (an idea) for consideration.

    Examples:

    "I floated the idea of free ice-cream on Fridays, but no one was interested."

  10. Float as a verb (intransitive):

    To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.

  11. Float as a verb (intransitive, finance):

    (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets as opposed to by rule.

    Examples:

    "The yen floats against the dollar."

  12. Float as a verb (transitive, finance):

    To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.

    Examples:

    "The government floated the pound in January."

    "Increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency."

  13. Float as a verb (transitive, colloquial):

    To extend a short-term loan to.

    Examples:

    "Could you float me $50 until payday?"

  14. Float as a verb (transitive, finance):

    To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.

  15. Float as a verb (transitive):

    To use a float (tool).

    Examples:

    "It is time to float this horse's teeth."

  16. Float as a verb (poker):

    To perform a float.

  17. Float as a verb (computing, transitive):

    To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.

  1. Float as a noun:

    A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.

    Examples:

    "Attach the float and the weight to the fishing line, above the hook."

  2. Float as a noun:

    A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.

  3. Float as a noun:

    A float board.

  4. Float as a noun:

    A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.

  5. Float as a noun:

    A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.

    Examples:

    "When pouring a new driveway, you can use a two-by-four as a float."

  6. Float as a noun:

    An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.

    Examples:

    "That float covered in roses is very pretty."

  7. Float as a noun (British):

    A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.

  8. Float as a noun (finance):

    Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.

    Examples:

    "Our bank does a nightly sweep of accounts, to adjust the float so we stay within our reserves limit."

  9. Float as a noun (finance, Australia, and other Commonwealth countries?):

    An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.

    Examples:

    "'2006, ''You don't actually need a broker to buy shares in a float when a company is about to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.'' — [[w:Australian Securities and Investments Commission Australian Securities and Investments Commission]] financial tips article, ''Buying shares in a float'' [http://www.fido.asic.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf/print/Buying+shares+in+a+float?opendocument]"

  10. Float as a noun (banking):

    The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.

    Examples:

    "No sir, your current float is not taken into account, when assets are legally garnished."

  11. Float as a noun (insurance):

    Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.

    Examples:

    "We make a lot of interest from our nightly float."

  12. Float as a noun (programming):

    A floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.

    Examples:

    "That routine should not have used an int; it should be a float."

  13. Float as a noun:

    A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.

    Examples:

    "It's true - I don't consider anything other than root-beer with vanilla ice-cream to be a "real" float."

  14. Float as a noun:

    A small sum of money put in a cashier's till at the start of business to enable change to be made.

  15. Float as a noun (poker):

    A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.

  16. Float as a noun (knitting):

    One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.

  17. Float as a noun (automotive):

    a car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination

  18. Float as a noun (transport):

    a lowboy trailer

  19. Float as a noun (tempering):

    A device sending a copious stream of water to the heated surface of a bulky object, such as an anvil or die.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Knight"

  20. Float as a noun (obsolete):

    The act of flowing; flux; flow.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Francis Bacon"

  21. Float as a noun:

    A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Mortimer"

  22. Float as a noun:

    A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Knight"

  23. Float as a noun (UK, dated):

    A coal cart.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Simmonds"

  24. Float as a noun:

    A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.

  25. Float as a noun (computing):

    A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.

  1. Fly as a noun (zoology):

    Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called .

  2. Fly as a noun (non-technical):

    Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).

  3. Fly as a noun:

    Any similar, but unrelated insect such as dragonfly or butterfly.

  4. Fly as a noun (fishing):

    A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.

  5. Fly as a noun (weightlifting):

    A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)

  6. Fly as a noun (obsolete):

    A witch's familiar.

  7. Fly as a noun (obsolete):

    A parasite.

  8. Fly as a noun (swimming):

    The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys)

  9. Fly as a noun:

    A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.

  1. Fly as a verb (intransitive):

    To travel through the air, another gas or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.

    Examples:

    "Birds of passage fly to warmer regions as it gets colder in winter. The Concorde flew from Paris to New York faster than any other passenger airplane. It takes about eleven hours to fly from Frankfurt to Hongkong. The little fairy flew home on the back of her friend, the giant eagle."

  2. Fly as a verb (ambitransitive, archaic, poetic):

    To flee, to escape (from).

    Examples:

    "'Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!"

  3. Fly as a verb (transitive, ergative):

    To cause to fly : to transport via air or the like.

    Examples:

    "Charles Lindbergh flew his airplane The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic ocean. Why don’t you go outside and fly kites, kids? The wind is just perfect. Birds fly their prey to their nest to feed it to their young. Each day the post flies thousands of letters around the globe."

  4. Fly as a verb (intransitive, colloquial, of a proposal, project or idea):

    To be accepted, come about or work out.

    Examples:

    "Let's see if that idea flies. You know, I just don't think that's going to fly. Why don't you spend your time on something better?"

  5. Fly as a verb (intransitive):

    To travel very fast, hasten.

  6. Fly as a verb:

    To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.

    Examples:

    "a door flies open; a bomb flies apart"

  7. Fly as a verb:

    To hunt with a hawk.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Francis Bacon"

  8. Fly as a verb (transitive):

    To display a flag on a flagpole.

  1. Fly as a noun (obsolete):

    The action of flying; flight.

  2. Fly as a noun:

    An act of flying.

    Examples:

    "We had a quick half-hour fly back into the city."

    "There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly."

  3. Fly as a noun (baseball):

    A fly ball.

  4. Fly as a noun (now, historical):

    A type of small, fast carriage (sometimes pluralised ).

  5. Fly as a noun:

    A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.

  6. Fly as a noun (often plural):

    A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.

    Examples:

    "Ha-ha! Your flies are undone!"

  7. Fly as a noun:

    The free edge of a flag.

  8. Fly as a noun:

    The horizontal length of a flag.

  9. Fly as a noun (weightlifting):

    An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.

  10. Fly as a noun:

    The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.

  11. Fly as a noun (nautical):

    That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Totten"

  12. Fly as a noun:

    Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.

  13. Fly as a noun:

    A heavy wheel, or cross arms with weights at the ends on a revolving axis, to regulate or equalize the motion of machinery by means of its inertia, where the power communicated, or the resistance to be overcome, is variable, as in the steam engine or the coining press. See flywheel.

  14. Fly as a noun (historical):

    A light horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation.

  15. Fly as a noun:

    In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Knight"

  16. Fly as a noun:

    The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.

  17. Fly as a noun (weaving):

    A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Knight"

  18. Fly as a noun (printing, historical):

    The person who took the printed sheets from the press.

  19. Fly as a noun (printing, historical):

    A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.

  20. Fly as a noun:

    One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.

  21. Fly as a noun (cotton manufacture):

    waste cotton

  1. Fly as a verb (intransitive, baseball):

    To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).

    Examples:

    "Jones flied to right in his last at-bat."

  1. Fly as an adjective (slang, dated):

    Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.

  2. Fly as an adjective (slang):

    Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.

    Examples:

    "He's pretty fly."

  3. Fly as an adjective (slang):

    Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.

  4. Fly as an adjective (slang, chiefly, Doric):

    Sneaky

  1. Fly as a noun (rural, Scotland, Northern England):

    A wing.

    Examples:

    "The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl's fly."