buoy

noun

/ˈbɔɪ/CA/ˈbu.i/US/ˈbwɔɪ/

Etymology

From Middle English boy, boye, from Middle Dutch boeye (“float, buoy”), from Old French boue (“piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored”) (modern French bouée), ultimately from Frankish *baukn (“beacon”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną. Doublet of beacon. Alternatively, and perhaps less likely (due to the unexplained shift in meaning), from Middle Dutch boeye (“shackle, fetter”), from Old French buie (“fetter, chain”), 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 *gʷṓws (“cow”). Noun sense 2 was coined by American linguist Scott K. Lindell in 2003.

derived from *gʷṓws✻ — “cow”
derived from βόεος
derived from boia — “a (leather) collar, band, fetter”
derived from buie — “fetter, chain”
derived from boeye — “shackle, fetter”
inherited from *baukną✻
derived from *baukn✻ — “beacon”
derived from boue — “piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored”
derived from boeye — “float, buoy”
inherited from boy

Definitions

1
A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational…
A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes
- Texas began deploying chains of specially designed buoys down the middle of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass to deter migrants from crossing illegally in June 2023, sparking protests from migrant activists and from the Mexican government.
2
A sign where the non-dominant hand is held in a stationary configuration as a landmark…
A sign where the non-dominant hand is held in a stationary configuration as a landmark for meaning associations with the dominant hand.
- list buoy
To keep afloat or aloft
To keep afloat or aloft; used with up.
›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  To support or maintain at a high level.
  - “My Heart Will Go On” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Feb. 28, 1998, buoying the Titanic soundtrack’s 16-week run atop the Billboard 200.
2. 5
  To mark with a buoy.
  - 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.
3. 6
  To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence
  To maintain or enhance enthusiasm or confidence; to lift the spirits of.
  - Buoyed by the huge success, they announced two other projects.
  - This dynamic stage of the ongoing struggle for long-denied democratic rights and national liberation helped inspire and buoy many in the U.S. and around the world who longed for social and economic justice.

The neighborhood

Derived

anchor buoy, bell buoy, breeches buoy, buoyage, buoyancy, buoyant, buoylike, buoy rope, buoy tender, cable buoy, can buoy, conical buoy, dan buoy, depicting buoy, fragment buoy, lifebuoy, life buoy, life-buoy, light buoy, list buoy, mooring buoy, nun buoy, pointer buoy, pull buoy, ring buoy, safety buoy, sonobuoy, spar buoy, stream the buoy, theme buoy, whistling buoy, buoy up, upbuoy

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for buoy. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA