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Caisson   Listen
noun
Caisson  n.  
1.
(Mil.)
(a)
A chest to hold ammunition.
(b)
A four-wheeled carriage for conveying ammunition, consisting of two parts, a body and a limber. In light field batteries there is one caisson to each piece, having two ammunition boxes on the body, and one on the limber.
(c)
A chest filled with explosive materials, to be laid in the way of an enemy and exploded on his approach.
2.
(a)
A water-tight box, of timber or iron within which work is carried on in building foundations or structures below the water level.
(b)
A hollow floating box, usually of iron, which serves to close the entrances of docks and basins.
(c)
A structure, usually with an air chamber, placed beneath a vessel to lift or float it.
3.
(Arch.) A sunk panel of ceilings or soffits.
Pneumatic caisson (Engin.), a caisson, closed at the top but open at the bottom, and resting upon the ground under water. The pressure of air forced into the caisson keeps the water out. Men and materials are admitted to the interior through an air lock. See Lock.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Caisson" Quotes from Famous Books



... The designer is often the constructor as well, and he is always a man of great practical experience. He has in his time stepped out on a foot-wide girder over a rushing stream, directing his men, and he has floundered in the mud of a river bottom in a caisson far below the surface of the stream, while the compressed air kept the ooze from flowing in and ...
— Stories of Inventors - The Adventures Of Inventors And Engineers • Russell Doubleday

... every time he rolled up his sleeve—a slight souvenir of the Battle of Five Forks. It was bored out by a bullet from the hands of a man in gray when Fred, dropping his sketch-book, had bent to drag a wounded soldier from under an overturned caisson. He carried no scar, however, in his heart. That organ beat with as keen a sympathy and as warm a spirit of camaraderie as it did when it first opened itself to ...
— The Fortunes of Oliver Horn • F. Hopkinson Smith

... following morning. We were obliged to discard much material, for although the two days' rest and food had distinctly helped out the horse situation, we had many animals that could barely drag themselves along, much less a loaded caisson, and our instructions were to on no account salvage ammunition. We could spare but one horse for riding—my little mare—and she was no use for pulling. She was a wise little animal with excellent gaits and great endurance. We were forced to leave, ...
— War in the Garden of Eden • Kermit Roosevelt

... cavalry, ordered Colonel Cheek (of the North Carolina brigade) to move steadily on the camp while two guns were opened on them at very short range. * * * Kilpatrick immediately moved his division away at a gallop, leaving one wagon with horses hitched to it, and one caisson full of ammunition. The enemy was a brigade strong here with two other brigades ...
— Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman - With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War • J. H. (James Harvey) Kidd

... gradually converted themselves into cavalry by this process of "obtaining" steeds; and as the officers found that their men could walk better on horses' legs, they permitted it. This promising youngster was one day seated on a caisson or ammunition waggon full of shells, &c., when it blew up. By a miracle he rose in the air, fell on the ground unhurt, and marching immediately up to the lieutenant and touching his hat, exclaimed, "Please, sir, caisson No. Two is blown to hell; ...
— Memoirs • Charles Godfrey Leland

... ground, lit only by dull gas-lamps, and, passing the low office buildings and storing sheds, came out by the water-basins. Here was a scene of some bustle and disorder, but it was farther on that the spectators were engaged in a knot, for the caisson was drifting round, and a handsome vessel was floating in, her funnel backed against the grey darkness and her spars in a ghostly silhouette. The name I heard on several sides roused in me a faint curiosity. It was ...
— Hurricane Island • H. B. Marriott Watson

... half a century had beaten upon it, and it was difficult to decipher the numerous inscriptions with which it was covered. The division of General Suchet just passing the spot, the emperor ordered them to have the monument removed and sent to Paris. The pieces were put into a caisson, and the orders executed.—"Memoirs du Duc de Rovigo," vol. ii., ...
— Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia • L. Muhlbach

... while a second force, composed of the 4th Wisconsin, 9th Connecticut, the other two sections of Nims's battery, and the four guns of Everett's, marched directly forward up the cliff road. An abandoned caisson or limber was ...
— History of the Nineteenth Army Corps • Richard Biddle Irwin

... responsibility upon the Republicans. Of certain things there was uncontradicted testimony. 1. That the Democrats placed a cannon near the voting-place and trained it upon the window where the Republicans, mostly negroes, were to vote, and that there was a caisson at the same place. 2. That there was a company of mounted men and armed cavalry upon the ground. 3. That guns were discharged in the vicinity of the voting place. 4. That at about eleven o'clock the sheriff of the county, a white man and a Republican, who ...
— Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 2 • George S. Boutwell

... horse will stop a whole convoy, whereas a dead man, not being fastened to the traces, can be pushed aside and his place taken without even stopping the march. An officer and a subordinate officer of artillery were placed in charge of each carriage or caisson, with the promise of six hundred francs for the transport of each gun or wagon beyond the range ...
— The Companions of Jehu • Alexandre Dumas

... for the consideration of Congress, the inclosed letter and accompanying statement from the Secretary of the Navy, in relation to the necessity of building a new boiler shop at the navy-yard, New York, and repairing the caisson gate of the dry dock at that station, in which it is requested that an appropriation of $147,243.04 be made for ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 8: Chester A. Arthur • James D. Richardson

... imagine the condition of affairs when on reaching the vicinity of Cub Run we found that a Rebel battery had opened upon the bridge, our only visible means of crossing. A few moments later, from a little eminence, I saw a shot take effect on a team of horses; and a heavy caisson was overturned directly in the centre of the bridge, barring all advance, while the mass of soldiers, civilians, and nondescript army followers, thus detained under fire, became perfectly ...
— His Sombre Rivals • E. P. Roe

... flames of a lurid hue, which were communicated with the rapidity of lightning to other adjoining buildings. A shower of sparks and coals fell on the roofs of the Kremlin; and one shudders to think that one of these sparks alone falling on a caisson might have produced a general explosion, and blown up the Kremlin; for by an inconceivable negligence a whole park of artillery had been placed under the ...
— The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Complete • Constant

... Graham had been withdrawn, a smart attack was made upon his brigade by Archer of Hill's command, who charged up and captured the Hazel Grove height; but it was with no serious Federal loss, except a gun and caisson stalled in the swamp. Sickles drew in his line by the right, and was directed to place his two divisions so as to strengthen ...
— The Campaign of Chancellorsville • Theodore A. Dodge

... them being howitzers. The lighter batteries would, in our service, be formed of six-pounder guns and twelve-pounder howitzers; and the heavier of twelve-pounder guns and twenty-four-pounder howitzers. These heavy batteries would usually form the reserve. Each piece being attended by its caisson, this formation would give twelve carriages to each battery, six for the guns and six for the caissons. The extra caissons form a part of the reserve, and move with the train. In some foreign services a battery is composed of eight pieces with ...
— Elements of Military Art and Science • Henry Wager Halleck

... a large flag, was carried on a caisson, and his horse, led by an orderly, was covered with a large blanket of black cloth. Over this was the saddle, and on top of the saddle rested his helmet—the yellow horsehair plume and gold trimmings looking soiled by long service. ...
— Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888 • Frances M.A. Roe

... But the enemy met it with a determined front. The shrieking and bursting of shells shook the very earth, while the constant roll of the infantry sounded like continual peals of heavy thunder. Here and there an explosion, like a volcanic eruption, told of a caisson being blown up by the bursting of a shell. The enemy graped the field right and left, and had a decided advantage in the forenoon when their long range twenty-pounders played havoc with our advancing and retreating columns, while our small four and six-pounders could not reach ...
— History of Kershaw's Brigade • D. Augustus Dickert

... and his horse was shot under him, all about the same time. Just before he was wounded, several ammunition-chests exploded, one after the other, wounding Captain Jones and Lieutenant Gamble, who were standing near Colonel Carr, the latter making a fortunate escape. The explosion of a caisson was terrific. ...
— The Battle of Atlanta - and Other Campaigns, Addresses, Etc. • Grenville M. Dodge

... stating that my attention was attracted several years ago by that unique complex of symptoms known as the "caisson or tunnel disease." As most physicians are aware, the caisson disease is an affection of the spinal cord, due to a sudden transition from a relatively high atmospheric pressure to one much lower. Hence, those who work in caissons, ...
— Scientific American Supplement No. 822 - Volume XXXII, Number 822. Issue Date October 3, 1891 • Various

... went on. In another side street a sentinel standing beside a green caisson shouted at him, but only when the shout was threateningly repeated and he heard the click of the man's musket as he raised it did Pierre understand that he had to pass on the other side of the street. He heard ...
— War and Peace • Leo Tolstoy



Words linked to "Caisson" :   caisson disease, chamber, ammunition chest, military, coffer, panel, military machine, armed services



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