raft

1. A flat structure, typically made of planks, logs, or barrels, that floats on water and is used for transport or as a platform for swimmers.
2. A flatbottom inflatable craft for floating or drifting on water: shooting the rapids in a rubber raft.

1. To convey on a raft.
2. To make into a raft.

[Middle English, from Old Norse raptr, beam, rafter.]

[Alteration of dialectal raff, rubbish. See raffish.]

n. 1. a flat buoyant structure of timber or other materials fastened together, used as a boat or floating platform.

2. a small, inflatable rubber or plastic boat, especially one for use in emergencies.

1. travel on or as if on a raft: I have rafted along the Rio Grande.

2. transport on a raft: the stores were rafted ashore.

3. bring or fasten together (a number of boats or other objects) side by side.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Type of foundation consisting of a solid slab, a slab with beams, or a cellular raft (containing a basement), all in reinforced concrete. It spreads the load from the building on the ground, and helps to prevent settlement.

For other uses, see Raft (disambiguation).

Traditional raft, from 1884 edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Sketch by F.E. Paris (1841) showing construction of a native peruvian balsa raft

A raft is any structure, with a flat top, that floats on water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Instead, rafts are kept afloat using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels, or inflated air chambers.

Contents 1 Rafts built by humans 2 Nonanthropogenic rafts 3 See also 4 External links

Rafts built by humans

Children successfully test their raft, in Brixham harbour, south Devon, England. The raft is made from wooden poles, rope and blue barrels.

Traditional or primitive rafts are constructed of wood or reeds. Modern rafts may also use pontoons, drums, or extruded polystyrene blocks. Inflatable rafts use durable, multi-layered rubberized fabrics. Depending on its use and size, it may have a superstructure, masts, or rudders.

Timber rafting is used by the logging industry for the transportation of logs, by tying them together into rafts, and drifting or pulling them down a river. This method was very common up until the middle of the 20th century but is now used only rarely.

The type of raft used for recreational rafting is almost exclusively an inflatable boat, manufactured of flexible materials for use on whitewater.

Nonanthropogenic rafts

In biology, particularly in island biogeography, non-anthropogenic rafts are an important concept. Such rafts consist of matted clumps of vegetation that has been swept off the dry land by a storm, tsunami, tide, earthquake or similar event; in modern times they sometimes also incorporate other kinds of flotsam and jetsam, e.g. plastic containers. They stay afloat by its natural buoyancy and can travel for hundreds, even thousands of miles and ultimately are destroyed by wave action and decomposition, or make landfall.

Biological rafts are important means of distribution for non-flying animals. For small mammals, amphibians and reptiles in particular, but for many invertebrates as well, such rafts of vegetation are often the only means by which they could reach and – if they are lucky – colonize oceanic islands before human-built vehicles provided another mode of transport.

See also

• Lifeboat (shipboard)
• Raft of the Medusa
• Supertramp (ecology)
• Thor Heyerdahl

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: rafts

• World of Boats at Eyemouth ~ Australian Reed Raft
• Homemade Raft Plans and Photos of Rafts
• Neutrino Raft - vessels made from scrap

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - tømmerflåde
v. tr. - flåde (træstammer ned ad en flod/elv), sejle på flåde (white water rafting)
v. intr. - sejle

2.
n. - bunke, hob

Nederlands (Dutch)
vlot, groot aantal, menigte, drijvende massa (ijs/bomen/eenden etc.), per vlot varen/ oversteken/ vervoeren, tot een vlot maken, vlotten

Français (French)
1.
n. - radeau
v. tr. - transporter sur un radeau, transformer en radeau
v. intr. - voyager en radeau

2.
n. - (US) un tas de (fam)

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Floß
v. - mit dem Floß befördern

2.
n. - Floß, Unmenge

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σχεδία, σωσίβια λέμβος, μικρή βάρκα
v. - χρησιμοποιώ σχεδία

Italiano (Italian)
zattera, usare una zattera

Português (Portuguese)
n. - balsa (f), jangada (f)
v. - transportar em balsas

Русский (Russian)
плот, плавать на плоту

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - balsa, almadía
v. tr. - navegar o transportar en balsa
v. intr. - servir de balsa

2.
n. - masa, gran cantidad de algo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - flotte
v. - flotta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 筏, 橡皮船, 救生艇, 用筏子运送, 筏流, 把...扎成筏子, 乘筏子渡, 乘筏

2. 大量, 许多

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 筏, 橡皮船, 救生艇
v. tr. - 用筏子運送, 筏流, 把...紮成筏子, 乘筏子渡
v. intr. - 乘筏

2.
n. - 大量, 許多

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 뗏목, 물 위에 뜬 나무 따위, v. tr., 뗏목으로 엮다, 뗏목으로 건너다
v. intr. - 뗏목으로 가다, 뗏목을 쓰다

2.
n. - 다량, 다수

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - いかだ, ゴムボート, 浮き台, 多数
v. - いかだに載せて運ぶ, いかだに組んで運ぶ, いかだで渡る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) طوف (فعل) يصنع من الاخشاب طوفا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רפסודה, דוברה, סירת-הצלה‬
v. tr. - ‮שט ברפסודה, חצה ברפסודה‬
v. intr. - ‮השיט רפסודה‬
n. - ‮הרבה, המון‬

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