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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

raft.

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

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɹɑːft/UK/ɹæft/US
  1. A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform.

    They floated down the river on an inflatable raft
  2. Any flattish thing, usually wooden, used in a similar fashion.

    broadly
  3. A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water.

    collective
  4. A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water. A group of aquatic mammals, especially otters and especially when visible on the surface of the water.

    broadly · collective
  5. A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water. A group of alligators or crocodiles, especially when floating in water with their backs visible above the surface.

    collective
  6. A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. which obstructs navigation in a river.

    US
  7. A slice of toast.

    US · slang
  8. A square array of sensors forming part of a large telescope.

  9. A mass of congealed solids that forms on a consommé because of the protein in the egg white.

Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ɹɑːft/UK/ɹæft/US
  1. To convey on a raft.

    transitive
  2. To make into a raft.

    transitive
  3. To travel by raft.

    intransitive
  4. To dock (toolbars, etc.) so that they share horizontal or vertical space.

Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ɹɑːft/UK/ɹæft/US
  1. A large (but unspecified) number, a lot.

Where this word comes from

Alteration of raff.

verb/ɹɑːft/UK/ɹæft/US
  1. simple past and past participle of reave

    archaic · form-of · participle · past
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.