subs. (stock exchange).—An Exchequer bill; applied also to other unfunded stock.
1871. Temple Bar, XXXI., 320. On the Stock Exchange, where slang abounds, FLOATERS is a term which would puzzle outsiders. FLOATERS are Exchequer bills and their unfunded stock.
2. (common).—A suet dumpling in soup.
3. (political).—A vendible voter.
1883. Graphic, 17 March, p. 279, col. 3. ‘How many voters are there?’ asked a candidate in one of these pure-blooded Yankee townships. ‘Four hundred.’ ‘And how many FLOATERS, i.e., purchasable?’ ‘Four hundred.’
1888. New York Herald, 4 Nov. The Building Materials Exchange people were in line to the number of about 200, with a band, snd were followed by a sixteen-horse stage of the ‘Long Tom’ shape containing a lot of FLOATERS and some fifers and drummers.
4. (Western American).—A candidate representing several counties, and therefore not considered directly responsible to any one of them.
1853. Texas State Gazette, 16 July. J. W. Lawrence, Esq., requests us to withdraw his name as a candidate for FLOATER in the district composed of the counties of Fayette, Bastrop, and Travis.
5. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see CREAMSTICK and PRICK.
