Primary
''pontoon'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260628200216-00-⌔
pontoon - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
pontoon (plural pontoons)
- A flat-bottomed boat or other floating structure used as a buoyant support for a temporary bridge, dock or landing stage.
- ✤ Thanks to the previous experience of the chief performers, to careful preparation and rehearsal, and to perfect weather conditions, they watched in breath-bated silence the spectacle of the huge bulk moving without a hitch into position over the temporary pier caps on which it settled as water ballast was admitted to the pontoons.1
- (by extension) A bridge with floating supports.
- ✤ Synonym: pontoon bridge
- A box used to raise a sunken vessel.
- ✤ Near-synonyms: caisson, camel, sea camel
- A float of a seaplane.
- A lighter or barge used for loading or unloading ships.
Noun
pontoon (uncountable)
- (card games) A card game in which the object is to obtain cards whose value adds up to, or nearly to, 21 but not exceed it.
- ✤ Synonym: vingt-et-un
Pronunciation
- IPA: /pɒnˈtuːn/
- Audio (US): 🔊
- Rhymes: -uːn
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Middle French ponton, from Old French ponton, from Latin pontō, pontōnem (“ferryboat”), from pōns (“bridge”).
Etymology 2
Probably from vingt-un, an obsolete variant of vingt-et-un (“twenty-one”), from French.
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
1959 May, L. T. C. Rolt, “Centenary of the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash”, in Railway Magazine, page 310: ↩
Secondary
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