raft

Definition

A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform.

Etymology

Late Middle English, of North Germanic origin, from West Old Norse raptr, from Proto-Germanic *raf-tra-, from Proto-Indo-European *rap-tro-, from *rep- (“stake, beam”). See also Norwegian raft (“beam, rafter”), Danish raft (“thin pole”). Compare also Albanian trap (“raft, ferry”).

Example Sentences

• "They floated down the river on an inflatable raft"
• "When George Stephenson built the Liverpool & Manchester Railway he encountered the same difficulty at Chat Moss and solved the problem by constructing a kind of raft made of brushwood that more or less floated on the surface of the bog. On this he placed as much firm soil as his raft could carry, when the operation was repeated, the first raft being thereby sunk with its load of solid earth, which was not displaced."
• "Even though in a way you let him freeze to death in the water, because the way I see it... I agree. Y'know, I think he actually could have fitted on that bit of door. There was plenty of room on the raft. I know. I know, I know."