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.
2. To support or sustain; to preserve from sinking
into ruin or despondency.
Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous
mass of his nobility, wealth, and title.
Burke.
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.
Not one rock near the surface was discovered which was not
buoyed by this floating weed.
Darwin.
Buoy, v. i. To float; to rise like a
buoy. "Rising merit will buoy up at last." Pope.
Buoy (?), n. [D. boei buoy, fetter,
fr. OF. boie, buie, chain, fetter, F. bouée 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.
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 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.