Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Catamaran \Cat`a*ma*ran"\, n. [The native East Indian name.]
1. A kind of raft or float, consisting of two or more logs or
pieces of wood lashed together, and moved by paddles or
sail; -- used as a surf boat and for other purposes on the
coasts of the East and West Indies and South America.
Modified forms are much used in the lumber regions of
North America, and at life-saving stations.
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2. Any vessel with twin hulls, whether propelled by sails or
by steam; esp., one of a class of double-hulled pleasure
boats remarkable for speed.
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3. A kind of fire raft or torpedo bat.
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The incendiary rafts prepared by Sir Sidney Smith
for destroying the French flotilla at Boulogne,
1804, were called catamarans. --Knight.
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4. A quarrelsome woman; a scold. [Colloq.]
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