raft 1 (r?ft)n.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.v. raft·ed, raft·ing, rafts v.tr.1. To convey on a raft.2. To make into a raft.v.intr. To travel by raft.[Middle English, from Old Norse raptr, beam, rafter.]raft 2 (r?ft) n. Informal A great number, amount, or collection: “As the prairie dog goes, conservation biologists say, so may go a raft of other creatures” (William K. Stevens). [Originally American English, alteration (probably influenced by raft) of dialectal English (Scotland and Northern England) raff, a large collection or number (of something), abundance, from Middle English raf in rif and raf, everything, one and all, sweepings, rubbish; see riffraff.] American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.raft (r??ft) n1. (Nautical Terms) a buoyant platform of logs, planks, etc, used as a vessel or moored platform2. (Building) a thick slab of reinforced concrete laid over soft ground to provide a foundation for a buildingvb (Nautical Terms) to convey on or travel by raft, or make a raft from[C15: from Old Norse raptr rafter] ?rafting nraft (r??ft) ninformal a large collection or amount: a raft of old notebooks discovered in a cupboard. [C19: from raff]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014raft1 (ræft, r?ft) n. 1. a more or less rigid floating platform made of buoyant materials: an inflatable rubber raft. 2. a collection of logs, planks, casks, etc., fastened together for floating on water. 3. life raft. 4. a slab of reinforced concrete providing a footing on yielding soil, usu. for a whole building. v.t. 5. to transport on a raft. 6. to form (logs or the like) into a raft. 7. to travel or cross by raft. 8. (of an ice floe) to transport (embedded organic or rock debris) from the shore out to sea. v.i. 9. to use a raft; go or travel on a raft. [1250?1300; Middle English rafte, perhaps