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balsa

raft; pond

noun BAHL-sah Rare
Travel & Places Transportation

Usage Note

Balsa has two distinct senses: a flat floating craft ('una balsa salvavidas' = liferaft) and a still pool or pond of collected water. It also gives its name to balsa wood (madera de balsa), the famously light tropical timber. Context disambiguates the two meanings easily.

Examples

"Los náufragos escaparon en una balsa."

Natural Translation

The shipwrecked survivors escaped on a raft.

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