Raft R'AFT, n. [Gr. to sew that is, to fasten together, and allied to reeve; or Gr. whence a flooring. See Rafter and Roof.]
An assemblage of boards, planks or pieces of timber fastened together horizontally and floated down a stream; a float.
R'AFT, pp. [L. rapio; bereafian, to snatch away, to bereave.]
Torn; rent; severed. Obs.

raft n 1: a flat float (usually made of logs or planks) that can be used for transport or as a platform for swimmers 2: (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent; "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos"; "it must have cost plenty"; "a slew of journalists"; "a wad of money" [syn: batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, mountain, muckle, passel, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad] v 1: transport on a raft; "raft wood down a river" 2: travel by raft in water; "Raft the Colorado River" 3: make into a raft; "raft these logs"

raft I. noun Etymology: Middle English rafte rafter, raft, from Old Norse raptr rafter Date: 15th century 1. a. a collection of logs or timber fastened together for conveyance by water b. a flat structure for support or transportation on water 2. a floating cohesive mass 3. an aggregation of animals (as waterfowl) resting on the water II. verb Date: 1706 transitive verb 1. to transport in the form of or by means of a raft; also to convey (as pebbles) in floating ice or masses of organic material 2. to make into a raft intransitive verb to travel by raft III. noun Etymology: alteration of raff jumble Date: 1830 a large collection or number

raft
1.
n. & v.
--n.
1 a flat floating structure of timber or other materials for conveying persons or things.
2 a lifeboat or small (often inflatable) boat, esp. for use in emergencies.
3 a floating accumulation of trees, ice, etc.
--v.
1 tr. transport as or on a raft.
2 tr. cross (water) on a raft.
3 tr. form into a raft.
4 intr. (often foll. by across) work a raft (across water etc.).
Etymology: ME f. ON raptr RAFTER
2.
n. colloq.
1 a large collection.
2 (foll. by of) a crowd.
Etymology: raff rubbish, perh. of Scand. orig.

raft (rafts) 1. A raft is a floating platform made from large pieces of wood or other materials tied together. ...a river trip on bamboo rafts through dense rainforest. N-COUNT 2. A raft is a small rubber or plastic boat that you blow air into to make it float. The crew spent two days and nights in their raft. N-COUNT see also life raft 3. A raft of people or things is a lot of them. He has surrounded himself with a raft of advisers who are very radical... = host of N-COUNT: usu sing, N of n

Raft \Raft\, obs. imp. & p. p. of Reave. --Spenser.

Raft \Raft\, n. [Originally, a rafter, spar, and fr. Icel. raptr a rafter; akin to Dan. raft, Prov. G. raff a rafter, spar; cf. OHG. r[=a]fo, r[=a]vo, a beam, rafter, Icel. r[=a]f roof. Cf. Rafter, n.] 1. A collection of logs, boards, pieces of timber, or the like, fastened, together, either for their own collective conveyance on the water, or to serve as a support in conveying other things; a float. 2. A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. (such as is formed in some Western rivers of the United States), which obstructs navigation. [U.S.] 3. [Perhaps akin to raff a heap.] A large collection of people or things taken indiscriminately. [Slang, U. S.] ``A whole raft of folks.'' --W. D. Howells. Raft bridge. (a) A bridge whose points of support are rafts. (b) A bridge that consists of floating timbers fastened together. Raft duck. [The name alludes to its swimming in dense flocks.] (Zo["o]l.) (a) The bluebill, or greater scaup duck; -- called also flock duck. See Scaup. (b) The redhead. Raft port (Naut.), a large, square port in a vessel's side for loading or unloading timber or other bulky articles; a timber or lumber port.

Raft \Raft\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rafting.] To transport on a raft, or in the form of a raft; to make into a raft; as, to raft timber.

Reave \Reave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reaved, Reft, or Raft(obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Reaving.] [AS. re['a]fian, from re['a]f spoil, plunder, clothing, re['o]fan to break (cf. bire['o]fan to deprive of); akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rj[=u]fa to break, violate, Goth. bir['a]ubon to despoil, L. rumpere to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. [root]114. Cf. Bereave, Rob, v. t., Robe, Rove, v. t., Rupture.] To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to rob; to despoil; to bereave. [Archaic]. ``To reave his life.'' --Spenser. He golden apples raft of the dragon. --Chaucer. By privy stratagem my life at home. --Chapman.

RAFT raft. See SHIPS AND BOATS, II, 1, (2).

62 Moby Thesaurus words for "raft": Carling float, balsa, balsa raft, barge, batch, boat, bob, boom, buoy, bus, cart, coach, considerable, cork, deal, dray, ferry, float, gobs, good deal, great deal, haul, heap, heaps, lashings, life buoy, life preserver, life raft, lighter, loads, lot, lots, mess, mint, oodles, pack, peck, pile, piles, pontoon, pot, quite a little, rafts, scads, ship, sight, sled, sledge, slew, slews, spate, stack, stacks, surfboard, tidy sum, truck, van, wad, wads, wagon, wheelbarrow, whole slew

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