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flotation

noun

Simple meaning

The phenomenon of floating.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

flohtayshuhn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

floʊˈteɪʃən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The phenomenon of floating (remaining on the surface of a liquid without sinking)

  2. The ability (as of a tire or snowshoes) to stay on the surface of soft ground or snow.

  3. miningchemical engineering

    A process of separating minerals by agitating a mixture with water and detergents etc; selected substances being carried to the surface in air bubbles.

  4. A state of floating, or being afloat.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The phenomenon of floating (remaining on the surface of a liquid without sinking)

Used this way, flotation is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • floatation , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

flotation costsfroth flotationflotation deviceair flotationflotation processpersonal flotationflotation cellflotation method

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • flotation devicenounCompound term

    Rescue equipment consisting of a buoyant belt or jacket to keep a person from drowning.

  • center of flotationnounCompound term

    The center of gravity of a floating object.

  • centre of flotationnounCompound term

    The center of gravity of a floating object.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: phenomenon of floating (remaining on the surface of a liquid without sinking)

floatationRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.