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n. 1. A float placed in water and usually moored, as to mark a location, enable retrieval of a sunken object, or record oceanographic data. 2. A life buoy. tr.v. buoyed, buoy·ing, buoys 1. To keep afloat or aloft: a glider buoyed by air currents. 2. 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). 3. To mark with or as if with a buoy. [Middle English boie, from Old French boue, probably of Germanic origin; see bhā-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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