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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

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.
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{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.
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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.
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2. To support or sustain; to preserve from sinking into ruin
or despondency.
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Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous
mass of his nobility, wealth, and title. --Burke.
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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.
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Not one rock near the surface was discovered which
was not buoyed by this floating weed. --Darwin.
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Buoy \Buoy\, v. i.
To float; to rise like a buoy. "Rising merit will buoy up at
last." --Pope.
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