pontoon : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: pontoon	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for pontoon
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
pontoon n (nautical) a floating structure (as a flat-bottomed boat) that serves as a dock or to support a bridge a float supporting a seaplane
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Pontoon \Pontoon"\, n. [F. ponton (cf. It. pontone), from L. ponto, -onis, fr. pons, pontis, a bridge, perhaps originally, a way, path: cf. Gr. [?] path, Skr. path, pathi, panthan. Cf. {Punt} a boat.] 1. (Mil.) A wooden flat-bottomed boat, a metallic cylinder, or a frame covered with canvas, India rubber, etc., forming a portable float, used in building bridges quickly for the passage of troops. 2. (Naut.) A low, flat vessel, resembling a barge, furnished with cranes, capstans, and other machinery, used in careening ships, raising weights, drawing piles, etc., chiefly in the Mediterranean; a lighter. {Pontoon* bridge}, a bridge formed with pontoons. {Pontoon train}, the carriages of the pontoons, and the materials they carry for making a pontoon bridge. Note: The French spelling ponton often appears in scientific works, but pontoon is more common form.