gondola
Americannoun
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gondolas
plural
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a long, narrow, flat-bottomed boat having a tall, ornamental stem and stern and sometimes a small cabin for passengers, rowed or poled by a single person who stands at the stern, facing forward: used especially on the canals of Venice, Italy.
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a passenger compartment suspended beneath a balloon or airship.
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an enclosed cabin suspended from an overhead cable, used to transport passengers up and down a ski slope or over scenic or treacherous terrain.
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Also called gondola car. an open railroad freight car with low sides, for transporting bulk freight and manufactured goods.
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a truck whose bed or trailer is a hopper, as for transporting mixed cement.
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a freestanding structure for displaying merchandise in a retail establishment, as a supermarket.
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a chair or couch having a gondola back.
noun
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a long narrow flat-bottomed boat with a high ornamented stem and a platform at the stern where an oarsman stands and propels the boat by sculling or punting: traditionally used on the canals of Venice
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a car or cabin suspended from an airship or balloon
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a moving cabin suspended from a cable across a valley, etc
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a flat-bottomed barge used on canals and rivers of the US as far west as the Mississippi
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a low open flat-bottomed railway goods wagon
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a set of island shelves in a self-service shop: used for displaying goods
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a broadcasting booth built close to the roof over an ice-hockey arena, used by commentators
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gondola
1540–50; < Italian < Venetian, probably < Medieval Greek kontoúra small boat used in coastal navigation, noun use of feminine of kóntouros short, clipped, literally, dock-tailed, equivalent to Late Greek kont ( ós ), kond ( ós ) short + Greek -ouros -tailed, adj. derivative of ourá tail
Explanation
A gondola is a narrow boat that's powered by a rower who stands at one end. If you visit Venice, you should ride along the canals in a gondola. Gondolas look a bit like long, skinny canoes with flat bottoms. They're lightweight boats that are almost entirely used for transportation and tourism in Venice, Italy, a city that's made up of many small islands linked by canals and bridges. During the 17th and 18th centuries, historians estimate there were as many as ten thousand gondolas in regular use there — today there are about 400. Enclosed ski lifts are also known as gondolas.
Vocabulary lists containing gondola
The Merchant of Venice
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As You Like It
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When the Emperor Was Divine
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The control gondola, analogous to a ship’s bridge, hung from the forward section of the keel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
River Farmers’ Market is dependent on how the city’s gondola project develops, which would dominate the park and destroy dozens of trees with a gondola to and from Dodger Stadium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
As for the second question, if I were former Dodgers owner and aerial tram godfather Frank McCourt, I’d fasten my seat belt, because the gondola is about to hit some heavy turbulence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
The four former commissioners have signed a joint letter arguing that the gondola proposal “would enable a private development to permanently and irreparably shrink, degrade, and destroy the integrity of a state park.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
The Zeppelin crews simply dropped their bombs over the side of the passenger gondola by hand.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Not only are the gondolas imported from Italy, but the gondoliers are professionally trained singers who travel to Italy to learn the craft.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
Medellin’s hillside settlements helped show the potential of gondolas as city infrastructure.
From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2024
And when in Venice, he warned readers regretfully, “Stay away from gondolas; they cost as much as $3 an hour!”
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2024
Dozens of other gondolas were attached to the support cable at the time of the accident but none were affected by the crash.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2024
The canal was disgusting—smelly and salty and as warm as soup—but Frank forged through it, dodging gondolas and speedboats, pausing occasionally to chitter dolphin insults at the monsters who followed him on the sidewalks.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
