释义 |
raft I. archaic past of reave II. \ˈraft, ˈraa(ə)ft, ˈraift, ˈrȧft\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English rafte, from Old Norse raptr rafter — more at rafter 1. archaic : rafter, spar 2. a. : a collection of usually logs or timber fastened together for transportation by floating < great rafts of logs … for the English market — American Guide Series: Vermont > b. : a flat structure for support or conveyance (as of people or cargo) on a body of water < floating down the river on a raft > < rubber rafts filled with men — K.M.Dodson > c. : a floating platform; especially : one used by swimmers : float 4c(1) < in the park pool swimming out to the raft — Donald Windham > d. : a rubber lifesaving apparatus that is inflated for use usually in emergency landings of airplanes on water < the raft resembled an overlarge bedroll — E.K.Gann > < get out fast and inflate the raft — Howard Hunt > 3. a. : a mass of floating logs, driftwood, or debris that impedes or blocks navigation of a watercourse < the raft covered the stream from shore to shore — American Guide Series: Arkansas > b. : a floating cohesive mass (as of seaweed or insect eggs) c. : an aggregation of waterfowl (as ducks) resting on the water < estuaries … where rafts of wildfowl lie offshore — N.C.Stevenson > 4. : mat 3d < raft foundation > < raft construction > III. verb (-ed/-ing/-s) transitive verb 1. a. : to transport (as logs or timber) in the form of a raft by floating < rafted his logs down the lakes — American Guide Series: Michigan > b. : to convey (as people or cargo) on or by means of a raft < rafted them across the stream > < freight rafted down the river — American Guide Series: Louisiana > 2. : to make into a raft < raft the logs at hand > 3. : to go along or across (a watercourse) on a raft < raft a river > 4. : to transport (land-derived debris, boulders, or silt) embedded in floating ice or in masses of floating organic material (as seaweed) to places not reached by the currents of rivers, lakes, or seas intransitive verb 1. : to manage a raft : travel by raft < rafting across rivers — Jack Kelsey > 2. : rafter IV. noun (-s) Etymology: alteration (influenced by raft (II) mass of logs) of raff (I) : a large and often motley collection (as of people or things) : a great amount or number : lot, slew < a raft of shiftless brothers and sisters — W.L.Gresham > < had a raft of patients — Carson McCullers > < assembled a raft of facts and figures — New Yorker > < sold a raft of bathtubs — advt > |