pontoon
American Heritage Dictionary:
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pon·toon
(pŏn-tūn') 
n.
n.
- A floating structure, such as a flatbottom boat, that is used to support a bridge.
- A floating structure serving as a dock.
- A float on a seaplane.
[French ponton, from Old French, from Latin pontō, pontōn-, floating bridge, from pōns, pont-, bridge.]
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pontoon
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n. 1. a flat-bottomed boat or hollow metal cylinder used with others to support a temporary bridge or floating landing stage.
2. a bridge or landing stage supported by pontoons.
3. a large flat-bottomed barge or lighter equipped with cranes and tackle for careening ships and salvage work.
4. either of two floats fitted to an aircraft to enable it to land on water.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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pontoon
pontoon, one of a number of floats used chiefly to support a bridge, to raise a sunken ship, or to float a hydroplane or a floating dock. Pontoons have been built of wood, of hides stretched over wicker frames, of copper or tin sheet metal sheathed over wooden frames, of aluminum, and of steel. The original and widespread use was to support temporary military bridges. Cyrus the Great built (536 B.C.) the earliest pontoon bridge in history, using skin-covered pontoons. However, Homer mentions pontoon bridges as early as c.800 B.C. The U.S. army began experimenting with rubber pontoons in 1846 and in 1941 adopted collapsible floats of rubber fabric with steel-tread roadways. At the same time the navy developed box pontoons of light, welded steel for ship-to-shore bridges during landing operations. These box pontoons could be assembled into bridges, docks, causeways and, by adding a motor, into self-propelling barges. Permanent civilian pontoon bridges have been built where the water is deep and the water level fairly constant or controllable, often also where the crossing is narrow or where the bottom makes it difficult to sink piers. The modern permanent pontoon is composed of many compartments, so that if a leak occurs in one compartment, the pontoon will not sink. Permanent pontoons are fastened together and several anchors are dropped from each. Often a section of a bridge built on them can swing aside to let a ship pass. Several pontoon bridges have been built across the Mississippi River. Pontoons for raising sunken ships are watertight cylinders that are filled with water, sunk, and fastened to the submerged ship; when emptied by compressed air, they float the ship to the surface. A pontoon lifeboat consists of a raft supported by watertight cylinders.
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Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'pontoon'
- Types of Ships and Boats - pontoon: wooden, flat-bottomed boat or float used in building bridges; type of barge
See crossword solutions for the clue Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Pontoon
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Look up pontoon or pontoons in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Pontoon may refer to:
- Float (nautical), an air-filled structure providing buoyancy
- Pontoon (card game), the Australian/Malaysian casino game
- Pontoon (card game), a chiefly British version of the card game blackjack (also known as vingt-et-un or 21)
- Pontoon (boat), the flat-bottomed boat
- Pontoon effect, the tendency of pontoons to capsize when a heavy load with a high centre of gravity is placed on it
- Pontoon bridge, a bridge that floats on pontoons
- Pontoon, term for a floating dock
- Ponton (automobile), the car body style
- Pontoon fenders, the automobile fender style
- Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon, a 2007 book by Garrison Keillor
- Pontoon, County Mayo, Ireland
- "Pontoon", a song by Little Big Town
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This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Pontoon
Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - halvtolv, blackjack
2.
n. - ponton
Nederlands (Dutch)
ponton, drijver van watervliegtuig, platte boot
Français (French)
1.
n. - (GB) vingt-et-un (jeu)
2.
n. - ponton, (Aviat) flotteur
Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Kartenspiel
2.
n. - Ponton, Prahm
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πλωτό βάθρο γέφυρας, επίπεδη βάρκα (χωρίς καρίνα), πλωτό στήριγμα, πλωτήρας (υδροπλάνου κ.λπ.), (Βρετ.) είδος χαρτοπαίγνιου, είκοσι ένα
v. - περνώ (ποτάμι) με πλωτά βάθρα
Português (Portuguese)
n. - pontão (m), flutuador (m), ponte sustentada por pontões (f)
v. - atravessar/construir sobre pontões
Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - blackjack (juego de cartas)
2.
n. - pontón
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ponton, flottör, kortspel
v. - lägga pontonbro
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
浮桥, 浮码头, 浮筒
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 浮橋, 浮碼頭, 浮筒
한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - (카드 게임의 일종) 판툰
2.
n. - 평저선
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 平底船, 鉄舟, フロート
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الجسر العائم, جسر الأطواف (فعل) يعبر النهر بواسطه الطوافات
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - משחק-קלפים
n. - מתקן נחיתה במטוס-ים, סירת-גשר, פונטון
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Dictionary of the US Military
The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010
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Random House Word Menu
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Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary
Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008
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Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Pontoon.
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