float
/fləʊt/ nounDefinition
› [C] (mainly UK also flotation) STOCK MARKET a situation in which a company offers shares for sale on a stock market for the first time: The stock has been one of the great out-performers of recent times, rising more than 90% since the company's float 11 years ago. The planned flotation of the new Internet portal has been postponed.a $90 billion/£350 million, etc. float Bank of China is poised to file for $8 bn float. Shares are currently below their 330p-a-share float price. Companies must file an initial registration statement under the Exchange Act before commencing a public float.
› [S] ECONOMICS a situation in which a government no longer controls the value of its country's currency in relation to the value of other currencies: The float of the currency triggered a period of turbulence in Asian financial markets. → See also dirty float
› [U] BANKING money that becomes available for a bank to spend before customers' cheques are paid: The speed of electronic processing has all but eliminated the need for float.
› [C] COMMERCE cash that is available to give as change to customers at the start of business each day
› [C] UK MONEY petty cash
(Definition of float noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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