Meaning of buoy in English:

buoy

Pronunciation /bɔɪ/

See synonyms for buoy

Translate buoy into Spanish

noun

An anchored float serving as a navigation mark, to show reefs or other hazards, or for mooring.
‘At Carval Rock we tie off to a mooring buoy bolted into the reef at 15m.’
- ‘Your July cover caption reflects that the Star Flyer is ‘gliding peacefully through the Aegean Sea’ when she actually rests at anchor, tied between two mooring buoys.’
- ‘Nine fixed navigation aids and five buoys are scheduled to replace them by mid 2004.’
- ‘The dive site is marked by mooring buoys in the bay before Cabo Cope.’
- ‘First, two experienced divers armed with buoys marked the reef and the area which needed to be cleaned.’
- ‘The association is in the planning stages of setting up mooring buoys at the more visited sites like Pantai Merah, Padar Island, and Cannibal Rock.’
- ‘Permanent mooring buoys are provided at all diving sites, and these are colour-coded to denote whether they are for use by local dive schools or by private boats.’
- ‘Modern, well-equipped dive boats leave every day for different sites, all 60 of which have mooring buoys.’
- ‘It's encouraging to see that there are only two other dive boats on the wall and the mooring buoys are well spaced out.’
- ‘Offshore, there are a host of marine navigation aids such as floating and fixed buoys and lighthouses - each with special icons so you can identify them easily.’
- ‘According to the plan, white buoys would designate coral reefs and sea preservative areas.’
- ‘The thief had apparently let the stern anchor go and had marked it with a buoy, giving the impression that the boat would be back shortly.’
- ‘Newry and Mourne Council are providing necessary navigation buoys in the Clanrye River estuary from Narrow Water to the Victoria.’
- ‘The mooring buoy grid itself will be safer and far more compact than the present anchoring arrangements and will leave plenty of space for other boats to anchor.’
- ‘At the same time, a mooring buoy design competition, with cash awards, was held in the villages of the park.’
- ‘Accumulations of zebra mussels clog municipal water systems, and have even been known to sink navigational buoys by their combined weight alone.’
- ‘Two new navigation buoys will be provided in the channel and alterations are to be carried out on existing navigation lights.’
- ‘The wreck is marked by a buoy attached to a big concrete mooring block off the stern.’
- ‘To safely navigate a boat, one has to be able to see and identify day marks, buoys and the occasional sign for the restaurant we want to visit.’
- ‘Having achieved this, the fishermen then returned to the marker buoy to retrieve the anchor.’
marker, anchored float, navigation mark, guide, beacon, signal
View synonyms

verb

[with object]

1often be buoyed upKeep (someone or something) afloat.
‘the creatures could swim, both buoyed up and cooled by the water’
- ‘It floated really well (I imagine all the hairs trap air and buoy it up), and was making what looked to be good progress by padding with all eight legs.’
- ‘We suddenly noticed he was missing and ran around looking for him, before looking out to sea and seeing him floating, buoyed up by the air in his nappy.’
- ‘Instead he presented them as wallowers, being buoyed up by water, feeding on soft marsh vegetation.’
- ‘Inflatable dive jackets marked with Tom and Eileen's names were later washed ashore north of Port Douglas, along with their tanks - still buoyed up by a few remnants of air - and one of Eileen's fins.’
- ‘They are then put on boats and rowed out on to the lake, anchored with rocks and buoyed up by plastic pop bottles, which act as floats.’
- ‘Spaced almost evenly a foot or so from one another, dozens upon dozens of the three-inch-long frogs float with their legs extended, hind legs buoyed apart, and snouts above water.’
- ‘Above me I could see the colorful silken envelopes, ballooning and buoyed upward by the hot air of the hundred fires that were continually stoked by the slaves of the formidable skyship.’
- ‘Owls hooted in the trees as the tide on Boston Harbor buoyed a fleet of small rowboats toward Cambridge Shore.’
- ‘They all watch in fear and fascination as Cal soars for a miraculous moment more, buoyed on the wind's strong shoulder.’
1. 1.1Make (someone) cheerful and confident.
  ‘she was buoyed up by his praise’
  ‘Twenty-four hours ago, I was buoyed by the confidence of having three plates fiercely spinning.’
  ‘Some described false confidence as the ultimate fair-weather friend, buoying you when times are good and deserting you when they're bad.’
  ‘Despite the increased friction between the two sides, morale among IT staff remains high, with striking workers buoyed by messages of support from council colleagues and members of the public.’
  ‘But then, for vast periods of this game, their opponents were irresistibly confident, buoyed by their clear superiority.’
  ‘She thinks they must be restaurant reviews and this buoys her spirits since she imagines it must mean the food is good.’
  ‘Reynaud himself seemed buoyed up with hope on hearing the proposal.’
  ‘Peter swelled with pride at her assessment of his manners, buoyed up by the thought of her approval and happiness.’
  ‘The United States won a significant victory and, buoyed up by a public opinion that seems to hear no evil and see no evil, looks determined to press on and try and score others.’
  ‘Feeling part of a larger community of like-minded nonviolent protestors, I felt buoyed up by the possibility of triumph over injustice.’
  ‘Grateful that I'd been allowed into this space, I finally moved on, returning to my mundane tasks of the day, but buoyed up by this close encounter.’
  ‘They said they felt so buoyed up as they were such a great bunch of students.’
  ‘It still took a last gasp goal to save Erin's Own, but the certainty is they'll return to the fray on Saturday all buoyed up.’
  ‘We were flying and we came ashore jubilant and buoyed up.’
  ‘Then, buoyed up by the thought that I had actually done something, I went out to do some gentle gardening, trimming the grassy edges along the back fence.’
  ‘For today's leaders buoyed up by the passing cloud of rhetoric, its literary strength makes it likely its findings will be quoted for many years to come.’
  ‘She is raring to go at the moment, buoyed up by her unexpected win in the Snack-a-Jacks sponsored competition, but admits that maintaining her interest could be a problem.’
  ‘The tidal wave of marchers which swept through the streets in a never-ending flow, whistled, drummed and chanted its way around the city, buoyed up by a seemingly endless supply of good humour.’
  ‘That said, he is in an exceptionally sweet mood today, buoyed up by Friday's release of his new film, Angela's Ashes, and, I'd say, not exactly dismayed by the controversy it has generated.’
  ‘Jestine, who was a teacher herself long ago, was all buoyed up on seeing the kids.’
  ‘But he warmed to his subject, and was clearly buoyed up by the crowd's enthusiasm.’
  cheer, cheer up, brighten up, ginger up, hearten, rally, animate, invigorate, comfort, uplift, lift, encourage, stimulate, raise someone's spirits, give a lift to
  View synonyms
2. 1.2Cause (a price) to rise to or remain at a high level.
  ‘shares were up 4p, buoyed by his cut-and-thrust management style’
  ‘A&L's share price anyway seems to have been buoyed up by the prospect of predators in the wings, when it becomes prey at the end of the month.’
  ‘Shares in the bank have been buoyed up by the news, which has sparked speculation of a takeover.’
  ‘When the economy began the descent into recession in the late 1980s, property prices continued to rise, buoyed by an interest rate cut designed to revive the economy in the wake of the 1987 stock market plunge.’
  ‘Also buoying the market were strong gains in the heavyweight financial and oil sectors and by London's close the FTSE 100 had pulled past the 3900 level, up 47.0 points at 3936.9.’
  ‘Heavyweights such as insurers, banks and telecoms had helped buoy the market.’
  ‘The Shenzhen-based company, China's second biggest life insurer, said a rate increase in the mainland should in fact buoy its investment returns.’
  ‘With equity withdrawal accounting for 50% of the growth in consumption, these flows have helped significantly to buoy the economy.’
  ‘It claims that increased custom from the ‘once a week’ pub-goer - the largest group of pub patrons - would buoy profits.’
  ‘It is a fact that Zambia has the potential to develop its tourism sector fully so that it can quickly buoy the economy because of the vast natural resources.’
  ‘Some claim the government's transport policy is still in disarray and that this is also helping to buoy sales.’
  ‘This obviously buoys the market in good times and smooths its falls in recessions.’
  ‘Much of the bond rally now is built on exaggerated fears of deflation and unrealistic hopes that the Fed will buoy the market by buying bonds.’
  ‘The ‘survivalists’ are certainly doing their share to buoy the gold market.’
  ‘But the real estate market is always quite cyclical, and a catalyst will usually come along to buoy markets again.’
  ‘On the one hand, a stock that is moving up can gather momentum, as ‘success breeds success’ and popularity buoys the stock higher.’
  ‘Sales of new higher-margin models, including the $128,000 Turbo convertible and $93,000 Carrera 4S convertible, are buoying sales and profits.’
  ‘Reports earlier this week showed jobless claims dropped and manufacturing rose, buoying the dollar.’
  ‘A slightly revised model has just gone on sale, which should help to buoy sales as the year progresses.’
  ‘Stocks spent most of the day in positive territory, buoyed in part by the University of Michigan's report showing consumer confidence rose in March to 95.8 from 94.4 in February.’
  ‘Overseas, bull runs in Asia have buoyed foreign stock funds.’
2Mark with a buoy.
‘the wreck is often buoyed during summer months’
- ‘You'll never see more than one dive boat on any site and they're all buoyed.’
- ‘The mine was towed some two miles off Methil and lowered to the sea bed and buoyed off.’
- ‘One of the most striking scenes portrays various fishing vessels buoyed to the wharf in the harbor with the lighthouse in the background.’
- ‘Skipper Dave dryly remarks that he isn't so sure about this one, as it lies on a flat sandy seabed close to a small reef and he doesn't have it buoyed.’
- ‘The area was heavily netted, buoyed and mined and constantly being patrolled.’
- ‘The harbour authority incurred expense in lighting and buoying the wreck which it sought to recover from the defendants.’

Origin

Middle English probably from Middle Dutch boye, boeie, from a Germanic base meaning ‘signal’. The verb is from Spanish boyar ‘to float’, from boya ‘buoy’.