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6 definitions found
 for Buoy
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Buoy \Buoy\ (bwoi or boi; 277), n. [D. boei buoy, fetter, fr.
     OF. boie, buie, chain, fetter, F. bou['e]e a buoy, from L.
     boia. "Boiae genus vinculorum tam ferreae quam ligneae."
     --Festus. So called because chained to its place.] (Naut.)
     A float; esp. a floating object moored to the bottom, to mark
     a channel or to point out the position of something beneath
     the water, as an anchor, shoal, rock, etc.
     [1913 Webster]
     Anchor buoy, a buoy attached to, or marking the position
        of, an anchor.
     Bell buoy, a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be
        rung by the motion of the waves.
     Breeches buoy. See under Breeches.
     Cable buoy, an empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in
        rocky anchorage.
     Can buoy, a hollow buoy made of sheet or boiler iron,
        usually conical or pear-shaped.
     Life buoy, a float intended to support persons who have
        fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to
        save them.
     Nut buoy or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and
        tapering nearly to a point at each end.
     To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the
        ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor.
     Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown
        by the action of the waves.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Buoy \Buoy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buoyed; p. pr. & vb. n.
     1. To keep from sinking in a fluid, as in water or air; to
        keep afloat; -- with up.
        [1913 Webster]
     2. To support or sustain; to preserve from sinking into ruin
        or despondency.
        [1913 Webster]
              Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous
              mass of his nobility, wealth, and title. --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
     3. To fix buoys to; to mark by a buoy or by buoys; as, to
        buoy an anchor; to buoy or buoy off a channel.
        [1913 Webster]
              Not one rock near the surface was discovered which
              was not buoyed by this floating weed. --Darwin.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Buoy \Buoy\, v. i.
     To float; to rise like a buoy. "Rising merit will buoy up at
     last." --Pope.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :

      n 1: bright-colored; a float attached by rope to the seabed to
           mark channels in a harbor or underwater hazards
      v 1: float on the surface of water
      2: keep afloat; "The life vest buoyed him up" [syn: buoy,
         buoy up]
      3: mark with a buoy

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  121 Moby Thesaurus words for "buoy":
     Carling float, Mae West, Roman candle, aid to navigation, alarm,
     amber light, balefire, balsa, balsa raft, beacon, beacon fire,
     bear up, bell, bell buoy, blinker, blue peter, bob, boom,
     breeches buoy, buoy up, caution light, cork, cork jacket,
     ejection capsule, ejection seat, ejector seat, elevate, flare,
     float, float high, fog bell, fog signal, fog whistle, foghorn,
     glance, go light, gong buoy, green light, hearten, heliograph,
     high sign, hold up, international alphabet flag,
     international numeral pennant, keep up, kick, leer, life belt,
     life buoy, life jacket, life net, life preserver, life raft,
     life ring, life vest, lifeboat, lifeline, lift, lollipop,
     marker beacon, nod, nudge, parachute, parachute flare, pilot flag,
     poke, police whistle, pontoon, quarantine flag, radio beacon, raft,
     raise, red flag, red light, ride high, rocket, rubber dinghy,
     safety belt, sailing aid, semaphore, semaphore flag,
     semaphore telegraph, sign, signal, signal beacon, signal bell,
     signal siren, signal tower, siren, spar buoy, stop light, support,
     surfboard, sustain, the nod, the wink, touch, traffic light,
     traffic signal, upbear, uphold, uplift, upraise, waft, watch fire,
     water wings, white flag, wigwag, wigwag flag, wink, yellow flag

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  BUOY. A piece of wood, or an empty barrel, floating on the water, to show 
  the place where it is shallow, to indicate the danger there is to 
  navigation. The act of Congress, approved the 28th September, 1850, enacts, 
  " that all buoys along the coast, in bays, harbors, sounds, or channels, 
  shall be colored and numbered, so that passing up the coast or sound, or 
  entering the bay, harbor or channel, red buoys with even numbers, shall be 
  passed on the starboard hand, black buoys, with uneven numbers, on the port 
  hand, and buoys with red and black stripes on either hand. Buoys in channel 
  ways to be colored with alternate white and black perpendicular stripes." 

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