buoy 2 BrE AmE ( also buoy up ) verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Spanish ; Origin: boyar 'to float' , from boya 'buoy' , from Latin boia ; ⇨ ↑ buoy 1 ]
1 . to make someone feel happier or more confident:
The party is buoyed up by the latest opinion poll results.
2 . to keep profits, prices etc at a high level:
Increased demand for computers buoyed their profits.
3 . to keep something floating