/gon"dl euh/ or, esp. for 1, /gon doh"leuh/ , n.
1. 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 esp. on the canals of Venice, Italy.
2. a passenger compartment suspended beneath a balloon or airship. Cf. car 1 (def. 4).
3. an enclosed cabin suspended from an overhead cable, used to transport passengers up and down a ski slope or over scenic or treacherous terrain.
4. Also called gondola car . an open railroad freight car with low sides, for transporting bulk freight and manufactured goods.
5. a truck whose bed or trailer is a hopper, as for transporting mixed cement.
6. a freestanding structure for displaying merchandise in a retail establishment, as a supermarket.
7. a chair or couch having a gondola back.
[ 1540-50; kontoúra small boat used in coastal navigation, n. use of fem. of kóntouros short, clipped, lit., dock-tailed, equiv. to LGk kont ( ós ), kond ( ós ) short + Gk -ouros -tailed, adj. deriv. of ourá tail ]