Buoyancy

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Buoyancy \Buoy"an*cy\, n.; pl. {Buoyancies}.
     1. The property of floating on the surface of a liquid, or in
        a fluid, as in the atmosphere; specific lightness, which
        is inversely as the weight compared with that of an equal
        volume of water.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Physics) The upward pressure exerted upon a floating body
        by a fluid, which is equal to the weight of the body;
        hence, also, the weight of a floating body, as measured by
        the volume of fluid displaced.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Such are buoyancies or displacements of the
              different classes of her majesty's ships. --Eng.
                                                    Cyc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Cheerfulness; vivacity; liveliness; sprightliness; -- the
        opposite of {heaviness}; as, buoyancy of spirits.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  buoyancy
       n 1: cheerfulness that bubbles to the surface [syn: {perkiness}]
       2: the property of something weightless and insubstantial [syn:
           {airiness}]
       3: irrepressible liveliness and good spirit; "I admired his
          bouyancy and persistent good humor" [syn: {irrepressibility}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  57 Moby Thesaurus words for "buoyancy":
     adaptability, airiness, ascent, bounce, bounciness, breeziness,
     bubbliness, buoyance, carefreeness, chirpiness, daintiness,
     debonairness, delicacy, downiness, effervescence, elasticity,
     ethereality, extensibility, exuberance, flexibility, floatability,
     fluffiness, foaminess, frothiness, gentleness, give, gossameriness,
     jauntiness, lack of weight, levitation, levity, light heart,
     lightheartedness, lightness, lightsomeness, liveliness, perkiness,
     pertness, rebound, resilience, resiliency, responsiveness, snap,
     softness, spring, springiness, stretch, stretchability,
     stretchiness, tenderness, tone, tonicity, tonus, unheaviness,
     volatility, weightlessness, yeastiness