The CSS Float Attribute

By default block HTML elements, such as divisions, occupy the client width of their parent and stack one below the other. This behavior can be altered by setting the float property. Float takes the values none - the default - left or right and is frequently used in clear attribute which takes the values none (default), left, right or both. These issues are discussed at length elsewhere.

This is not an inherited property - i.e. in a child element, if not assigned, it takes the default value rather than the corresponding value in its parent container.