buoy

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English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Dutch boeye (“float, buoy”), perhaps a special use of Middle Dutch boeye (“shackle, fetter”), from Old French buie (“fetter, chain”) (compare modern bouée), probably from Frankish *baukan, or alternatively from Latin boia (“a (leather) collar, band, fetter”), from Ancient Greek βόεος (bóeos), βόειος (bóeios, “of ox-hide”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷow- (“cow”).

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbɔɪ/
    Rhymes: -ɔɪ
    Homophone: boy
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbuːiː/, /ˈbui/, /ˈbɔɪ/
    Rhymes: -uːi
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "obsolete" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbwɔɪ/

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

buoy (plural buoys)

  1. (nautical) A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel.
  2. A life-buoy; a life preserver.

Derived terms

Translations

life preserver — see life preserver

Verb

buoy (third-person singular simple present buoys, present participle buoying, simple past and past participle buoyed)

  1. (transitive) To keep afloat or aloft; used with up.
  2. (transitive) To support or maintain at a high level.
  3. (transitive) To mark with a buoy.
    to buoy an anchor; to buoy or buoy off a channel
    • 1839, Charles Darwin, Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle, London: Henry Colburn, Chapter 13, p. 303,[1]
      Not one rock near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this floating weed.
  4. To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence; to lift the spirits of.
    • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban (in The Guardian, 6 September 2013)[2]
      It ended up being a bittersweet night for England, full of goals to send the crowd home happy, buoyed by the news that Montenegro and Poland had drawn elsewhere in Group H but also with a measure of regret about what happened to Danny Welbeck and what it means for Roy Hodgson's team going into a much more difficult assignment against Ukraine.
    • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎[3], page 18:
      Considering the results of the study, today John may be buoyed at the clear trend of increasing numbers of new “lishes” for each successive decade since the 1950s, and the fact that nothing in the data suggests this trend is likely to falter.
    Buoyed by the huge success, they announced two other projects.
Derived terms
Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

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