gondola

gondola — 名詞

1. a passenger boat of a style seen in Venice, long and narrow with a flat base and

1.名詞B1
釋義

貢多拉船

威尼斯運河上使用的手划狹長小船

a passenger boat of a style seen in Venice, long and narrow with a flat base and raised ends shaped like points

例句

Ayesha took a gondola ride through the narrow canals of Venice during her summer holiday.

Ayesha 在暑假時搭乘貢多拉船遊覽了威尼斯狹窄的運河。

collocation: gondola ride / gondola trip

The gondola glided silently past old buildings while the boatman sang an Italian song.

貢多拉船靜靜地滑過古老建築旁，船夫唱著一首義大利歌曲。

同義詞
  • canal boat

    a general term that includes gondolas and other boats used on canals; less specific

  • water taxi

    a motorised boat for hire; faster and more practical than a gondola but lacks the traditional design

文法句型

take a ~

ride in a ~

travel by ~

用法筆記

The person who steers a gondola is called a gondolier. This sense is most often encountered in tourism and travel writing about Venice.

常見錯誤

❌I took a gondola to the airport in Venice.
✅I took a water taxi to the airport in Venice.
💡A gondola is a traditional canal boat for short trips, not a practical passenger ferry.

2. a hanging compartment that carries people up or down a mountain, across a valley

2.名詞B1
釋義

纜車廂

纜車或滑雪纜車上懸掛的載人車廂

a hanging compartment that carries people up or down a mountain, across a valley, or along a ski slope, suspended from a moving steel cable

例句

The cable car's gondola swayed gently as it climbed toward the mountain station.

纜車的車廂在爬往山頂車站的途中輕輕搖晃。

Bao and his sister waited for the next gondola to take them up the ski slope.

Bao 和他的妹妹在等待下一班纜車廂載她們上滑雪坡。

同義詞
  • cable car cabin

    a more descriptive term; 'cable car' often refers to the whole system, not the individual compartment

  • ski lift carriage

    used specifically in skiing contexts; less common than 'gondola' in everyday speech

文法句型

board a ~

ride in a ~

wait for a ~

用法筆記

This is the most common modern sense of 'gondola' outside Italy. A single installation may use multiple gondolas on one cable. A chairlift is a related but different system — gondolas are enclosed, while chairlifts are open seats.

常見錯誤

❌The gondola sailed across the lake.
✅The gondola moved along the cable toward the mountain.
💡In this sense, a gondola hangs from a cable; it does not float on water.

3. a cabin or basket that hangs beneath an airship, balloon, or other aircraft, use

3.名詞B2
釋義

吊艙

熱氣球或飛船下方懸掛的載人艙

a cabin or basket that hangs beneath an airship, balloon, or other aircraft, used to carry passengers, cargo, or equipment

例句

The hot air balloon's gondola had room for four passengers and the pilot.

熱氣球的吊艙有足夠空間容納四名乘客和一名駕駛員。

Emre climbed into the wicker gondola as the balloon began to rise from the field.

Emre 爬進了柳條編織的吊艙，這時氣球開始從田野上升。

collocation: wicker gondola (traditional balloon basket material)

同義詞
  • basket

    the everyday word for the passenger compartment of a hot air balloon; 'gondola' sounds more formal or technical

  • capsule

    used for modern, enclosed passenger compartments on airships; more technical

文法句型

climb into a ~

ride in a ~

the ~ of a [balloon/airship]

用法筆記

For hot air balloons, the gondola is also commonly called a basket. In airship contexts, it may also be called a cabin or car. This sense overlaps with sense 2 (CABLE CAR) only in that both involve suspended compartments; the vehicles they attach to are entirely different.

常見錯誤

❌We sailed the gondola across the sky.
✅We rode in the gondola beneath the hot air balloon.
💡The gondola is the passenger compartment, not the aircraft itself.

4. a railway goods wagon with a flat floor, low fixed sides, and no roof, designed

4.名詞C1
釋義

敞車

無頂低邊的鐵路貨運車廂

a railway goods wagon with a flat floor, low fixed sides, and no roof, designed to carry heavy materials such as coal, stone, or scrap metal

例句

The train carried open gondolas loaded with coal from the mine.

這列火車拉著裝滿煤礦的敞車從礦場駛出。

collocation: open gondola / loaded with [material]

Felix watched the railway workers fill the gondola with crushed stone for the new road.

Felix 看著鐵路工人將碎石裝進敞車，準備鋪設新道路。

同義詞
  • open wagon

    British English equivalent; more common outside North America

  • hopper car

    similar but has a mechanism to release cargo through bottom doors; not identical to a gondola

文法句型

load a ~

fill a ~

transport [material] in a ~

用法筆記

This sense is almost exclusively North American. In British English, the same type of wagon is usually called an open wagon or hopper wagon. The word 'gondola' in this sense is rarely encountered outside railway industry contexts.

常見錯誤

❌The passengers sat in the gondola on the train.
✅The gondola carried iron ore behind the locomotive.
💡A railroad gondola is a freight car for bulk materials, not a passenger carriage.