Meaning & use
rafting
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Meanings
noununcountablesport
The sport or activity of traveling down a river on an inflatable raft, often through fast water.
Grammar: No article: we went rafting; white-water rafting is exciting.
Patterns
- go rafting
- rafting on a river
We spent the weekend rafting on the river.
White-water rafting can be dangerous without a guide.
Rafting trips run from May to September.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Present participle of raft: traveling or carrying something on a raft.
Grammar: No object when traveling: they are rafting downstream; with an object, logs are rafted to the mill.
Patterns
- raft down something
The group is rafting down the canyon this afternoon.
Loggers were rafting timber across the lake.
Word forms
| base | raft |
|---|---|
| third person singular | rafts |
| past tense | rafted |
Common combinations
- white-water rafting
- They tried white-water rafting in Colorado.
- go rafting
- Let's go rafting this summer.
- rafting trip
- The rafting trip lasted three days.
- rafting guide
- Our rafting guide gave a safety talk.
- rafting adventure
- The family booked a rafting adventure.
Synonyms and how they differ
- canoeing
- It uses a narrow boat you paddle from a kneeling position, while rafting uses a wide inflatable raft with a group.
- kayaking
- It is paddled with a double blade by one person sitting low, while rafting is a team activity.
- river running
- It is a broader term that includes any boat on a river, while rafting is specifically on rafts.
Word family
Commonly confused: rafting or rafter?
rafting vs rafter
A rafter is also a sloping roof beam, so the word means a person on a raft only in a river context.
Practice
The guide told us to wear helmets because white-water ___ can be dangerous in the rapids.
Choose one answer.
The activity on rapids is rafting. Rafters are roof beams or people, and the sentence needs the activity noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rafting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.