raft

¹

[ raft, rahft ]

noun

1. a more or less rigid floating platform made of buoyant material or materials:

   an inflatable rubber raft.

2. a collection of logs, planks, casks, etc., fastened together for floating on water.
3. life raft.
4. Building Trades. a slab of reinforced concrete providing a footing on yielding soil, usually for a whole building, so that the weight of the soil that would be displaced by the settlement of the building exceeds the weight of the building itself; mat.

verb (used with object)

1. to transport on a raft.
2. to form (logs or the like) into a raft.
3. to travel or cross by raft.
4. (of an ice floe) to transport (embedded organic or rock debris) from the shore out to sea.

verb (used without object)

1. to use a raft; go or travel on a raft.
2. (of an ice floe) to overlap another ice floe.

raft

²

[ raft, rahft ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a great quantity; a lot:

   a whole raft of trouble.

raft

¹

/ rɑːft /

noun

1. informal.
   a large collection or amount

   a raft of old notebooks discovered in a cupboard

raft

²

/ rɑːft /

noun

1. a buoyant platform of logs, planks, etc, used as a vessel or moored platform
2. a thick slab of reinforced concrete laid over soft ground to provide a foundation for a building

verb

1. to convey on or travel by raft, or make a raft from

Derived Forms

• ˈrafting, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of raft¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English raft(e), “(wooden) beam, spear,” from Old Norse raptr rafter ¹

Origin of raft²

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; variant of raff

Word History and Origins

Origin of raft¹

C19: from raff

Origin of raft²

C15: from Old Norse raptr rafter

Example Sentences

He is leading a round of investment in Aave worth $25 million by purchasing a raft of the project’s own governance tokens.

From Fortune

So we sent in a raft of questions to the company to better understand the demand that it is seeing in the market for its service.

From TechCrunch

I lived in my truck for years and spent a decade of summers sleeping under the stars as a raft guide.

From Outside Online

Authoritarians are using a raft of digital technologies to counter dissent, maintain political control, and stay in power.

From MIT Technology Review

It joins a raft of EV makers making the jump to public markets.

From Fortune

He spent 47 days on a raft and survived only to be captured by the Japanese.

From The Daily Beast

A raft of thrillers, sci-fi movies, and sinister dramas followed.

From The Daily Beast

Mooney quickly inflated his life raft, sent out an SOS signal and drifted for fourteen days before he was rescued.

From The Daily Beast

Complaints about the raft of security measures are dismissed.

From The Daily Beast

Goldman, wisely, does not raise a raft of questions that drown a writer in the answering.

From The Daily Beast

He swims every day in the river; he fishes from his bamboo raft; he hunts in the forest with his father.

From Project Gutenberg

It was decided that the carpenter should rig out a raft in a hasty fashion, and that we were to be put aboard it.

From Project Gutenberg

I improvised bandages, set the leg directly, and in a little while we got to the shore on a hastily constructed raft.

From Project Gutenberg

All the planters and many others near the lake shore keep a boat at their landing, and a raft for crossing vehicles and horses.

From Project Gutenberg

The raft had to be floated to the storehouse and a platform built, on which everything was elevated.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• barge
• boat
• life raft
• lifeboat