caisson

[key-suhn, -son] Origin

cais·son

[key-suhn, -son]
noun
1.
a structure used in underwater work, consisting of an airtight chamber, open at the bottom and containing air under sufficient pressure to exclude the water.
2.
a boatlike structure used as a gate for a dock or the like.
3.
Nautical.
a.
Also called camel, pontoon. a float for raising a sunken vessel, sunk beside the vessel, made fast to it, and then pumped out to make it buoyant.
b.
a watertight structure built against a damaged area of a hull to render the hull watertight; cofferdam.
4.
a two-wheeled wagon, used for carrying artillery ammunition.
5.
an ammunition chest.
EXPAND
6.
a wooden chest containing bombs or explosives, used formerly as a mine.
7.
Architecture. coffer (def. 4).
COLLAPSE

Origin:
1695–1705; < French, Middle French < Old Provençal, equivalent to caissa box (see case2) + -on augmentative suffix

cais·soned, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Caisson is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Collins
World English Dictionary
caisson (kəˈsuːn, ˈkeɪsən)
 
n
1.  a watertight chamber open at the bottom and containing air under pressure, used to carry out construction work under water
2.  a similar unpressurized chamber
3.  See also camel a watertight float filled with air, used to raise sunken ships
4.  a watertight structure placed across the entrance of a basin, dry dock, etc, to exclude water from it
5.  a.  a box containing explosives, formerly used as a mine
 b.  an ammunition chest
 c.  a two-wheeled vehicle containing an ammunition chest
6.  another name for coffer
 
[C18: from French, assimilated to caissecase²]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

caisson
1704, from Fr. caisson "ammunition wagon, box, crate," from M.Fr. caisson "large box" (16c.), from It. cassone, augmentive form of cassa "a chest," from L. capsa "a box" (see case (2)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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