plater 
with gold or silver: generally in composition: 
as, silver-p/afcr, gold-plater, iiickel-pfafer. 4. 
A horse that competes for a plate. Lever. 
plate-rack (plat'rak), n. 1. An open frame 
for holding plates and dishes ; specifically, a 
frame in which dishes can be placed in a verti- 
cal position to dry after they have been washed. 
2. Any arrangement, other than simple 
shelves, for holding plates in any number, as 
the inclosed boxes, etc., in the pantries of a 
ship. 3. A grooved frame for receiving photo- 
graphic plates while wet, and holding them di- 
agonally on edge to drain ; a negative-rack. 
plate-rail (plat'ral), . In railway engin., a flat 
rail. K. H. Knight. 
plate-railway (plat'raFwa), n. A tramway in 
which the wheel-tracks are flat plates. [Eng.] 
plateresco (plat-e-res'ko), a. [Sp.] Same as 
plalerexque. 
plateresque (plat-e-resk'), a. [< Sp. plateres- 
co, < plata, silver: see plate.'} Resembling sil- 
verwork : noting a certain class of architectural 
enrichments. Ford. 
plate-roller (plat'ro'ler), n. A smooth roller 
for making plate- or sheet-iron. 
plate-shears (plat'sherz), n. ging. and pi. A 
machine for cutting or shearing plate- or sheet- 
metal, such as boiler-plate. 
Platessa (pla-tes'a), n. [NL., < li. platessa, the 
plaice : Bee plaice. ] A genus of flatfishes of the 
family Pleuronectidte, having as its type Plev- 
ronectes platessa: same as Pleuronectes in a 
strict sense. See cuts under plaice and asym- 
metry. 
platessiform (pla-tes'i-f&rm), a. [< L. platessa, 
the plaice, + forma, form.] In ichth., resem- 
bling the plaice in form or structure ; related to 
the plaice or flounder. 
plate-tracery (plat'tra'ser-i), n. In medieval 
arch., a form of tracery in which the openings 
are cut or pierced in slabs of stone ; as distin- 
guished from ordinary tracery, which is con- 
structed of assembled blocks. This form appeared 
early In the transition from the round-arched to the point- 
Plate-tracery. Head of a clearstory window, Cathedral of Chartres, 
France ; 13th century. 
ed style, and was often employed in subsequent periods 
in places where stone of the necessary formation and 
toughness was available. It was particularly esteemed In 
Italy, where the excellent building-marbles, in addition 
to their mechanical fitness, supplied a medium adapted 
for delicacy of outline and profile, and lending itself to 
high decorative quality in such tracery. 
platetrope (plat'e-trop), n. [< Gr. TrZarif, flat, 
+ rpeireiv, turn.] A part symmetrically related 
to another on the opposite side of the meson ; 
a lateral homologue ; a fellow of the opposite 
side. Wilder. 
platetropy (plat'e-tro-pi), n. [< platetrope + 
-y 3 .] Tne state or condition of being laterally 
homologous ; bilaterality ; bilateral symmetry ; 
reversed repetition of parts or organs on each 
side of the meson. 
plate-vise (plat'vls), n. InpTtotog., a frame for 
holding a plate firmly in certain processes, par- 
ticularly for cleaning or polishing the glass. 
It consists essentially of two wooden Jaws or sides, grooved 
to receive the plate, and adjustable by means of a screw. 
plate-warmer (plafwar'nier), . 1. A case 
with shelves or any other device in which plates 
are held before a fire, over a hot-air register, 
etc., to be warmed. 2. A hollow metallic tray, 
of the size and form of a plate, filled with hot 
water and placed at table beneath a dinner- 
plate to keep it warm. 
plate-wheel (plat'hwel), n. A wheel without 
arms or spokes ; a wheel in which the rim and 
nave are connected by a plate or web Open 
plate-wheel, a form of cast-iron wheel having large open- 
4530 
ings In the web between the arms, hub, and rim. It U 
used for street-cars, etc. 
platey, a. See platy. 
platf ond, n. Same as plafond. 
platform (plat'fdrm), n. [Formerly also plot- 
form ( simulating plat 2 , plotl); = Sp. Pg. plata- 
forma = It. piattaforma, < OF.plateforme, also 
platteforme, and as two words plate forme, platte 
fourme, P. plateforme, a platform (terrace), 
platform (in arch.), prop, mudsill (of a bridge), 
etc., < plate, fern, of plat, flat, level, + forme, 
platilla 
bridge, Massachusetts, In 1648, and Saybrook, Connecticut, 
in 1708. They substantially agree with rach other and 
with the principles still maintained by < 
Ists. See conyregationalim. Feeding-platform, a plat- 
MI n i . generally about two feet by four, placed in tin- uiM.ll,- 
of a trout-pond, a few Inches above the bottom : used by 
llsh-culturlsts. If the food Is thrown over this platform, 
all not taken before It reaches the bottom will fall upon 
It, and, as it can more easily be cleaned than the bottom 
of the pond, there Is less liability of fouling the water. 
The fish will also take food better from a clean than from 
a muddy bottom. It serves incidentally, too, as a cover 
for the young fish. 
form: see plaft and form.] If. A ground-plan^ platform (plat'fdrm), r. t. [< platform, w.J If. 
drawing, or sketch; a plan; a map. To sketch or jay down the plan of; set forth 
map, 
So I have made a platform of a princely garden, partly 
by precept, partly by drawing not a model, but some 
general lines of it. Bacon, Gardens (ed. 1887). 
The young men meeting in places of exercise, and the 
old men also in Artificers Shops, and in their compassed 
Chaires, or half e circles where they sate talking together, 
were every one occupied about drawing the Platform* of 
Slcilia, telling the nature of the Sicilian Sea, and reckon- 
ing up the Havens and places looking towards Africke. 
\"tl/i, tr. of Plutarch (ed. 1G56X p. 45ft. 
Able so well to limn or paint as to take In paper the 
situation of a castle or a city, or the platform of a fortlfi- 
in plan; outline. 
Some ... do not think ft for the ease of their Inconse- 
quent opinions to grant that church-discipline Is pint- 
formed In the Bible, but that It is left to the discretion of 
men. MUton, Church-Uovernment, I. 
2. To draw up a platform, or scheme of princi- 
ples or policy. [Colloq.] 3. To support or 
rest as on a platform. [Bare.] 
Platforming his chin 
On the palm left open. 
Mf. Brmrniny, To Flush, my Dog. 
cation. Z*vA"("ArbersKng.~6arner,~L~64"). platform-bridge (plat'f6rm-brij),i/. Amovable 
2f. A plot ; a design ; a scheme ; a plan. gangway over the space between the platf ormn 
Alexander. Apelles, what peece of worke have you now of two railroad-cars, designed to protect pas- 
in hand? sengers from falling between the cars. [U. S.] 
Apelles. None in hand, if It like your majestic : but I platform-car (plat 'f6rm-kar), . An open 
am devising a platf anM in my head. 
Lijly, Alexander and Campaspe, v. 4. 
And now there rests no other shift but this, 
To gather our soldiers, scatter'd and dispersed, 
Ana lay new platforms to endamage them. 
Shot., 1 Hen. VI., IL 1. 77. 
A sudden platform comes into my mind, 
And this it is. Grim, The Collier of Croydon, II. 
3f. Situation; position. 
T, platform ; b, truck-frames ; r. buffers; '/.brake-shoes; <, brake- 
wheel 
With your instrument for trying of distances, obserue 
the platf orme of the place. HaMuyfs Voyayet, I. 430. 
4. A raised level place ; a terrace. 
Ham. But where was this? 
Mar. My lord, upon the platf arm where we watch 'd. 
Shall., Hamlet, I. 2. 213. 
railroad-car, having no inclosing sides, or sur- 
rounded merely by low ledges. 
platform-carriage (plat'form-kar'fj), . A 
four-wheeled platform, wagon, or truck used for 
carrying mortal's, guns, or other heavy mute- 
The buildings we now find on the rfaVbrm at Persepolis _|!f+|..^Lf tOr f 8 ' , , ,./,- , - 
may have been dedicated to somewhat different purposes platform-Crane (plat form-kran), H. 1. A de- 
than were those of Nineveh. tachable crane on the margin of a railway-car 
J. Ftrgumon, Hist. Arch., L 189. platform or a platform of a truck. 2. A crane 
5. A raised frame or structure with a level sur- permanently mounted on a movable truck, 
face. Specifically (o) A raised structure in a hall or which forms an integral part of the machine, 
meeting-place for the use of those who are to speak ; a platformer (plat'form-er), H. [< platform + 
rostrum or stage from which a speaker may conveniently . er l .] A public speaker; one who dn 
address his audience. (6) A raised walk along the track at 
a railway-station for landing passengers and freight, (e) 
The place where guns are mounted on a fortress or battery. 
The Captain commanded them to cast anchor before a 
certain town called Cris, which had ^platform or fort with 
ordnance to defend it. 
Eng. Stratagem (Arker'sEng. Garner, I. 606). platfonnist (plat'forin-ist), H. [< platform + 
(d) Jfaut., the orlop, (e) In a glass-furnace, a bench on -1st.] A public speaker or lecturer. [Colloq.] 
which the pots are placed. E. H. Knight CO A projecting platfonn-SCale (plat'form-skal), H. A weigh- 
floor or landing at the end of a railroad-car or street-car, i nf r.machiiin or bnlimce with a flur r>al nr 
serving as a means of ingress and egress. 
Specifically 6. A systematic scheme or body platform for the support of the object to be 
of principles, especially of religious or politica'l weighed. The designation is applied especially to a 
nrnioinW oYnrpsslv <1nrvrpH n a. nnliov m-hn- w *ighing-machine in which the flat scale is placed near 
principles, expressly adopted as a policy or Da- to or on a level with a table, counter, floor, or the ground, 
sis of action ; a syllabus, program, or scheme of 
principles or doctrines adopted as a basis of 
action, policy, or belief; specifically, in F. S. 
draws up or 
invents a plan of proceedings. [Rare.] 
But one divine Aretine in Italy, and two heavenly Tarle- 
tons in England, the sole platfnrmem of odd elocution, 
and only singularities of the plain world. 
O. Harvey, Four Letters, 111. 
, , , , 
for the convenient reception of heavy bodies and to save 
lifting, and Is connected with the scale-beam by a system 
of compound levers and links. Either sliding or detacha- 
ble counterpoising weights, or both, are used on the beam, 
which, when sliding weights are used, is graduated to in 
polities, a statement of political principles and ,.., _ ulll|s wl!l|illl . __ . 
of the course to be adopted with regard to cer- dlcate weights and fractions of the unit of weight, 
tain important questions of policy, issued by platform-spring (plat'fonn-spring), n. In a 
the representatives of a political party assem- 
bled in convention to nominate candidates for 
an election : as, the Genevan platform ; a po- 
litical pla tform; the Democratic platform. 
The wisdom of a lawmaker consisteth not only in a plat- 
form of Justice, but in the application thereof. 
Bacon Advancement of Learning, U. 355. 
Every little society pretending to that venerable name 
vehicle, a compound spring consisting of a rec- 
tangular arrangement of four arched springs, 
each made up of long, thin, curved steel plates 
of regularly diminishing lengths bolted toge- 
ther. The extremities of the four springs are united at 
the corners of the rectangle by links or stirrups, two of 
the springs usually bowing upward and two downward. 
The name has also been applied to a similar mechanism 
of three springs arranged as on three sides of a rectangle. 
[the church) did the very thing they had complained of : S BuiT/SCiTSiJP'' r , , 
imposed _the platform of their doctrine, discipline, and wor : pl * - T Ul t. ( h 1)1 ? t KP' "' WE. platful ; <plat* - 
So that my palays plat-ful be py3t 
, il aboute. 
iUiteratitx Poems (ed. MorrisX it 83. 
shin as divine ; and were for rooting out all that opposed 
or did not comply with it. Up. Atterbury, Sermons, II. xiil. 
The Whigs, whether on the Lexington platform or some 
& n rtr^^ 
and generous war. ""' elc ; ... . 
Retolvtima of the Democratic National Convention, May SO, platiaSIUUS (plat-1-as'mus), n. [< Gr. TT/MTCI- 
[18*4, quoted in New York Herald, May 6, 1848. aafiof, a broad manner of speech, a broad 
Doric accent, < irfaTeid&iv, speak or pronounce 
broadly/ ~/rif, broad: seeplafi.] Imperfect 
speech, the result of an abnormal condition of 
the tongue. 
Conversation In society is found to be on a platform so 
low as to exclude science, the saint, and the poet. 
Emerton, Clubs. 
7. Figuratively, the function of public speak- 
ing, as that of lecturers or political speakers ; platict (pla'tik), a. [< LL. platicus, general, 
also, public speeches or public addresses col- compendious, summary, < Gr. vAarvKof, diffuse, 
lectively. detailed, (irharlis, broad, wide: see plat 3 ."] In 
It is perfectly true that a great number of foolish and astral., pertaining to or in the position of a 
erroneous, sometimes very mischievous, notions are fos- ray cast from one planet to another, not ex- 
' leal press, but the same might be said a/ ,fi v i* within th orbit nf its own li<rht- 
IP iil/it farm ttciijrj uui \% ii inn iiic urun ux us owu iigiii . 
If. X. Oxtnkam, Short Studies, p. as. opposed to par tile Platic conjunction. See con- 
Cambridge platform, Saybrook platform, declare- _'{"'ijii^' / r ri'-\ 
tions of principles respecting church government and doc- Platilla (pla-tll a), n. A white linen fabric 
trine adopted hy church synods held respectively at Cam- 
, , t -i'~\ 
Platilla (pla -til a), 
made in Silesia. 
