Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🚤 A side support 🏗️ A projecting support
sponson

sponson

1 9.9
A part that sticks out from the side of a boat or plane to help balance and hold equipment
  • noun
  • /ˈspɒnsən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sponson
  • You're gonna have to rebuild the sponson and take it all the way back to the stringers.
  • hull with sponsons
  • twin sponsons

Examples

  • So by being able to push those sponsons into the tank, it narrows its width.

  • The boat was equipped with sponsons that enhanced its stability on rough waters.

  • I'm just telling you, 'cause we just rebuilt the whole right sponson on her.

    Madison (2005)

  • It is a gunwale, a sponson, a pontoon, a hull.

    Blog text (13)

  • The twin catamaran sponsons skated across the surface with practically no water resistance.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Enlarged photo shows just wheels coming out of engine nacelles rather than from fuselage sponsons.

    Blog text (25)

  • The boat careened off on one sponson, flipped, somersaulted, and miraculously landed right-side up again.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Their flat decks connected two knife-edged catamaran hulls called sponsons and aerodynamic wings over the engine compartments.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • When building your kayak, adding sponsons can significantly improve its balance.

  • The aircraft's sponsons provided the necessary support for its heavy equipment during flight.

Surface Forms

sponson singular
sponsons plural

Etymology

The word sponson comes from an old French word for a projection on the side of a ship. Think of it as a side 'support' that sticks out to make a boat or seaplane more stable or to hold equipment, so a sponson helps a craft stay balanced and carry gear.