1. An object that floats or is capable of floating
   "Colorful floaters bobbed in the swimming pool"; "The angler attached a floater to his fishing line"
    
2. Spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humour and lens
   "floaters seem to drift through the field of vision";
   - musca volitans, muscae volitantes
    
3. A wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support
   "The floater moved from town to town, picking up odd jobs";
   - vagrant, drifter, vagabond, clochard, vag [Austral, informal]
    
4. An employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed
   "As a floater in the company, she gained experience in various departments"
    
5. A voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election
   "The election officials were on high alert for floaters attempting to cast multiple ballots"
    
6. A swimmer who floats in the water
   "The beginner swimming class taught students how to be comfortable floaters"
    
7. An insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewellery) regardless of its location
   "The collector insured his rare coins under a floater";
   - floating policy
    
8. A debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills)
   "Investors purchased floaters to hedge against interest rate fluctuations"

Derived forms: floaters

Type of: article, bather, bird of passage, certificate of indebtedness, debt instrument, elector, employe [US], employee, have-not, insurance, insurance policy, natator [archaic], object, obligation, physical object, policy, poor person, roamer, rover, swimmer, symptom, voter, wanderer

Encyclopedia: Floater