Floor division is a mathematical operation that divides one number by another and rounds down to the nearest whole number. It is often represented by the double forward slash symbol (//) in programming languages like Python. For example, if you perform floor division on 7 divided by 3, the result will be 2, since 2 is the largest whole number less than or equal to the actual quotient, which is approximately 2.33. This operation is useful in various applications, such as when you need to determine how many complete groups can be formed from a set of items. Floor division helps avoid fractions and provides a straightforward way to work with whole numbers in calculations.