PONTOON

Dictionary of Science, Literature and Art · 1842 · p. 36

A Military term, denoting a kind of flat bottomed boat, generally lined within and without with tin. Our pontoons are about 21 feet long, 5 feet broad, and 2 feet deep. Tiiey are carried along with an army for the purpose of making temporary bridges, called pontoon bridges, by which an army is pursued over rivers. [s. 972]