float-v; 6 Senses

Sense Number 1: (cause to) be suspended in/on a gas or liquid without sinking or falling

Commentary: Syntax Includes: NP1 FLOAT PP NP1 FLOAT ADVP NP1 FLOAT COMP NP1 FLOAT NP2
NOTE: Concrete uses only; no metaphors

Examples:
An empty bottle will float.
We spent a lazy afternoon floating down the river.
Fluffy white clouds were floating across the sky.
Men and equipment actually floated around in the weightless conditions of space.
The children enjoy floating their boats on the pond in the park.
America has floated warships through the straits more than once.
He floated the logs the two miles to the mill.

Mappings:
VerbNet: modes_of_being_with_motion-47.3,roll-51.3.1,run-51.3.2-2,slide-11.2-1
FrameNet: Motion
PropBank: float.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 6

Sense Number 2: suggest, consider, or discuss tentatively

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1[agent] FLOAT NP2[patient[concrete]]
NOTE: NP2 isn't concrete - an idea, theory, etc.

Examples:
Ian has floated the idea that we should think about expanding into Europe next year.
Asked what might be on the table in restructuring talks, Young floated a few ideas.
Mark has floated some new possible ways of approaching these proposals.
Did you know there is a new theory that is being floated around?

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: float.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4

Sense Number 3: move or act as if floating, i.e., gracefully, aimlessly, etc.

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1 FLOAT PP[directional]
NOTE: NP1 NOT in liquid (as opposed to sense #1)

Examples:
She floats across the stage speaking only in her language of hands.
She floated around the room, like a ballet dancer.
Miss Golightly [...] floated round in their arms light as a scarf. (Truman Capote)
Lauren floated through dismal dreams, apathetically observing the somber scenes.
Since he lost his job, he's just floated about doing nothing.
A tiny diary that floated around the globe on a 500-day sojourn in the hands of travellers.
I floated from job to job until 1994, when I went back to school.

Mappings:
VerbNet: roll-51.3.1
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: float.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 5

Sense Number 4: allow the value of something to fluctuate according to market forces; offer for sale in the financial market

Examples:
The government has decided to float the dollar.
They would float the currency and remove the remaining capital controls.
Czech pharmaceuticals company Zentiva floated Dollars 225m of shares.
The company said Friday that some of its shareholders had decided to float up to 10% of the company's common shares.
Symbian shareholders have now decided to float the joint venture on the stock market.
Some companies have floated junk bonds.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: float.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 8

Sense Number 5: make the surface level or smooth

Examples:
Be ready to float the plaster wall out afterward to achieve a smooth finish.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 7

Sense Number 6: convert from a fixed point to a floating point notation

Commentary:
NOTE: Do not mark adjectival uses.

Examples:
(Could not find any examples.)

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 9