buoy
To buoy is defined as to raise someone's spirits or to keep something or someone afloat.
(verb)- An example of buoy is when you try to cheer up someone who has just been fired and to encourage him to keep his hopes up.
- An example of buoy is when a life jacket helps to keep you afloat.
The definition of a bouy is a floating object that is anchored to warn of danger or to mark a location.
(noun)An example of a bouy is a floating post with a light that shows the entry to the harbor.
See buoy in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
- a floating object anchored in a lake, river, etc. to mark a channel, warn of a hazard, etc., variously shaped and colored, and often equipped with a bell or light
- a similar but larger and heavier object, usually with a ring on top, to which a ship can be mooredin full mooring buoy
- life buoy
Origin: ME < (? via MDu boeie) OFr buie, chain < L boia, fetter (see boy): prob. first applied to the chain anchoring the float
transitive verb
- to mark or provide with a buoy
- to keep afloat: usually with up
- to lift up or keep up in spirits; encourage: usually with up
Origin: < Sp boyar, to float
See buoy in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel.
- A life buoy.
- To keep afloat or aloft: a glider buoyed by air currents.
- a. To maintain at a high level; support: “the persistent … takeover speculation, which has buoyed up the shares of banks” (Financial Times).b. To hearten or inspire; uplift: “buoyed up by the team spirit and the pride of the older generation back at home” (Judith Martin).
- To mark with or as if with a buoy.
Origin:
Origin: Middle English boie
Origin: , from Old French boue
Origin: , probably of Germanic origin; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots
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