Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Float \Float\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Floated}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Floating}.] [OE. flotien, flotten, AS. flotian to float,
   swim, fr. fle['o]tan. See {Float}, n.]
   1. To rest on the surface of any fluid; to swim; to be buoyed
      up.

            The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground.
                                                  --Milton.

            Three blustering nights, borne by the southern
            blast, I floated.                     --Dryden.

   2. To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to
      drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on
      the surface of a fluid, or through the air.

            They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the
            wind.                                 --Pope.

            There seems a floating whisper on the hills.
                                                  --Byron.