3.a flat floating structure that you can sit on, jump from etc when you are swimming 〔可供游泳者坐于其上、跳水等的〕浮台
4.TTWTTAa small flat rubber boat filled with air, used for example if a boat sinks 充气(救生)橡皮筏
Examples from the Corpus
raft• Closing a raft of uselessfederal establishments will get rid of only some 80,000 of them.• When you move abroad you face a raft of financialdecisions, including which type of bankaccount to open.• She needed a proper boat, not a raft.• A raft of foreign-owned firms have built new factories.• He greeted Collingridge's downfall like a drowning man discovers a life raft.• The waves which lapped over the stern of the raft were our waste-disposal system.• When the raftbumped on the sand, the fishermen could step ashore only kneedeep in the water.• The raft is built and on its way.
From Longman Business Dictionary
raftraft /rɑːftræft/ noun
a raft of something a large number of things
There has been a raft of new laws aimed at giving better protection to children in the past few years.
Originraft
1. (1200-1300)Old Norseraptr“large piece of wood, rafter”
2. (1800-1900)raff“mixture of things”((17-19 centuries)), influenced by → RAFT1