\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.
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.
3. A kind of fire raft or torpedo bat.
         The incendiary rafts prepared by Sir Sidney Smith
         for destroying the French flotilla at Boulogne,
         1804, were called catamarans.         --Knight.
4. A quarrelsome woman; a scold. [Colloq.]