Buoy

Pronunciation

RP enPR: boi, IPA: /bÉ”i/
Rhymes: -É”Éª
US enPR: boÍžo'Ä“, IPA: /ËˆbuË.i/
Rhymes: -uËi

Origin

From Middle English buoy, boye ("a float"), from Middle Dutch boeye ("a float, signal") or Middle French bouee, boue ("a float, marker, buoy"; < Middle Dutch), from Old Dutch *bÅkan, *boukan ("signal, beacon"), from Old Frankish *boukan, *baukan ("signal, beacon"), from Proto-Germanic *bauknÄ… ("sign, signal, portent"), from Proto-Indo-European *bÊ°ehâ‚‚- ("to glow, light, shine"). More at beacon.

Noun

buoy

(plural buoys)

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

Full definition of buoy

Verb

(transitive) To keep afloat or aloft; used with up.
(transitive) To support or maintain at a high level.

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

(transitive) To mark with a buoy.to buoy an anchor; to buoy or buoy off a channel

DarwinNot one rock near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this floating weed.

To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence

2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban (in The Guardian, 6 September 2013)http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/06/england-moldova-world-cup-qualifier-matchreportIt 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.

Derived terms

buoy up