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PlainSpell

raft

/ɹæft/noun, verb

raft is spelled R-A-F-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, raft means “A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of raft is rafts.

How many letters and syllables are in raft?

Letters4: R-A-F-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is raft?

Raft appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce raft?

  • UK /ɹɑːft/
  • US /ɹæft/

Raft has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-raft.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with raft?

7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as raft from its last stressed vowel (/æft/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: fart, frat.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of raft

  • rafts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • rafting participle, present
  • rafted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does raft mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform.

    They floated down the river on an inflatable raft

  2. 2

    Any flattish thing, usually wooden, used in a similar fashion.

  3. 3

    A thick crowd of aquatic birds, particularly a group floating on the surface of the water.

  4. 4

    A group of aquatic mammals, especially otters and especially when visible on the surface of the water.

  5. 5

    A group of alligators or crocodiles, especially when floating in water with their backs visible above the surface.

  6. 6

    USA collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. which obstructs navigation in a river.

  7. 7

    USslangA slice of toast.

  8. 8

    A square array of sensors forming part of a large telescope.

  9. 9

    A large (but unspecified) number, a lot.

verb

  1. 1

    To convey on a raft.

  2. 2

    To make into a raft.

  3. 3

    To travel by raft.

  4. 4

    To dock (toolbars, etc.) so that they share horizontal or vertical space.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Raft in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchradeau (flat, floating structure), canot pneumatique (inflatable floating craft), multitude, masse (large but unspecified number of something)
GermanFloß (flat, floating structure), Schlauchboot (inflatable floating craft)
Portuguesebalsa, jangada (flat, floating structure), multidão (large but unspecified number of something)
Spanishbalsa (flat, floating structure), multitud (large but unspecified number of something)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does raft come from?

Late Middle English, of North Germanic origin, from West Old Norse raptr, from Proto-Germanic *raf-tra-, from Proto-Indo-European *rap-tro-, from *rep- (“stake, beam”). See also Norwegian raft (“beam, rafter”), Danish raft (“thin pole”). Compare also Albanian trap (“raft, ferry”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after raft