afloat
part of speech
adjective (afloat — after the verb only); adverb
meaning for a pupil
1) Afloat means floating on water, not sinking. tree →
2) Afloat means on a boat or ship at sea. tree →
3) (figurative) If a person or business stays afloat, they have just enough money to keep going and not fail. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons on floating and sinking, things stay afloat when they are less dense than water or have air inside, like boats and life jackets. In water safety lessons, a life jacket keeps you afloat. In stories, sailors try to keep a leaking ship afloat. Phrases: «stay afloat», «keep afloat», «keep the business afloat».
examples
- The cork stayed afloat in the bowl of water. tree →
- A life jacket keeps you afloat. tree →
- We tried to keep the leaky boat afloat. tree →
- The toy duck was afloat in the bath. tree →
- The raft stayed afloat even with three children on it. tree →
- My uncle spent months afloat on a fishing boat. tree →
- The little shop is struggling to stay afloat. tree →
- Try to float on your back to stay afloat if you fall in. tree →
- While he was thus struggling to keep himself afloat, he saw a monstrous shark swimming towards him. tree →
note
Used after a verb (be, stay, keep), not before a noun: «the boat is afloat», not «an afloat boat». Opposite: sunk, sinking. Water safety: if you fall into water, float on your back and call for help.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «afloat» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.