Gōn'do-lā, n.

noun

n. [It., diminutive of gonda, id. Cf. L. Lat. gandeia, a kind of boat; Gr. κώδυ, a drinking vessel, said to be a Persian word; Fr. gondole, gondola, cup.]

Sense 1. (Naut.) A flat-bottomed pleasure-boat, very long and narrow, used at Venice, in Italy, on the canals.

Sense 2. A flat-bottomed boat for carrying produce and the like. [U. S.]

Sense 3. A long platform car, either having no sides or with very low sides, used on railways.

An engraving of a gondola carrying passengers on the water, with a standing boatman and buildings in the background. — Gondola.