What is "buoy"

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.

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.

Buoy \Buoy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buoyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Buoying.]

1. To keep from sinking in a fluid, as in water or air; to keep afloat; -- with up.

2. To support or sustain; to preserve from sinking into ruin or despondency.

   Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous mass of his nobility, wealth, and title.
   --Burke.

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.

   Not one rock near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this floating weed.
   --Darwin.

Buoy \Buoy\, v. i. To float; to rise like a buoy. ``Rising merit will buoy up at last.''
--Pope.

late 13c., perhaps from either Old French buie or Middle Dutch boeye, both from West Germanic *baukna "beacon, signal" (see beacon). OED, however, supports Middle Dutch boeie, or Old French boie "fetter, chain" (see boy), "because of its being fettered to a spot."

late 16c., "to mark with a buoy," from buoy (n.). Meaning "rise up, lift, sustain" is from c.1600, perhaps influenced by Spanish boyar "to float," ultimately from the same source. In the figurative sense (of hopes, spirits, etc.) it is recorded from 1640s. Related: Buoyed; buoying.\n

n. 1 (context nautical English) A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel. 2 A life-buoy. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To keep afloat or aloft; used with ''up''. 2 (context transitive English) To support or maintain at a high level. 3 (context transitive English) To mark with a buoy. 4 To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence

n. bright-colored; a float attached by rope to the seabed to mark channels in a harbor or underwater hazards

1. v. float on the surface of water

2. keep afloat; "The life vest buoyed him up" [syn: buoy up]

3. mark with a buoy

A buoy (, also or ) is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with the sea wave. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is (in British English) now most commonly pronounced (identical with boy, as in buoyant). In American English the pronunciation is closer to "boo-ee."

Buoy (7 April 1970 – 1984) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Unraced as a two-year-old, he proved himself one of the best middle-distance colts of his generation in 1973 when he won the Predominate Stakes and the Great Voltigeur Stakes and finished placed in both the Irish Derby and the St Leger. He was even better as a four-year-old, winning the Yorkshire Cup before beating the outstanding French filly Dahlia in the Coronation Cup and taking the Princess of Wales's Stakes. His career was ended by injury in August 1974 and he was exported to stand as a breeding stallion where he had limited success as a sire of winners.