Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A large cylindrical or conical floating buoy, used as a mark for shoals, etc. See
buoy .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It was only a can-buoy, lifting lonely to the swell.
The Happy Venture Edith Ballinger Price 1947
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When he come to his office quarters he was 'bout up to my arms, red as a can-buoy, and white hair stickin 'up straight as a shoe-brush on his head.
The Under Dog Francis Hopkinson Smith 1876
chained_bear commented on the word can-buoy
"All was well here and moving very fast, and as he ran on deck, calling aloud for the jolly-boat and a can-buoy, some part of his mind had time to thank God for good officers..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Far Side of the World, 187
A Sea of Words lists the meaning as:
"A navigational marker with a flat top, as opposed to a nun-buoy, which has a conical top, the underwater part being conical in both types." (126)
February 21, 2008