1. sponson - Noun
2. sponson - Verb
One of the triangular platforms in front of, and abaft, the paddle boxes of a steamboat.
One of the slanting supports under the guards of a steamboat.
One of the armored projections fitted with gun ports, used on modern war vessels.
Source: Webster's dictionaryBluebird then executed an almost complete somersault (~ 320° and slightly off-axis) before plunging into the water (port sponson marginally in advance of the starboard), approximately 230 metres from the end of the measured kilometre. Source: Internet
Bluebird was now experiencing bouncing episodes of the starboard sponson with increasing ferocity. Source: Internet
It was carried on a prominent white roundel on each sponson, underneath an infinity symbol. Source: Internet
The first of these marks was set at Ullswater on 23 July 1955, where he achieved a speed of convert but only after many months of trials and a major redesign of Bluebird's forward sponson attachments points. Source: Internet