plastron

[ plas-truhn ]
See synonyms for plastron on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a piece of plate armor for the upper part of the torso in front.

  2. Fencing. a quilted pad worn over part of the torso, for protection.

  1. an ornamental front piece of a woman's bodice.

  2. the starched front of a shirt.

  3. Zoology. the ventral part of the shell of a turtle.

Origin of plastron

1
1500–10; <Middle French <Italian piastrone, augmentative of piastra metal plate, piaster. See plaster

Words Nearby plastron

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use plastron in a sentence

  • I had myself a great silver bowl, with two goblets, and a plastron of Spanish steel.

    The White Company | Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Frequently a metal breastplate or plastron-de-fer, and a steel cap or chapel-de-fer, were worn under the mail.

  • A square brown Derby is worn with this suit, brown English driving gloves, and a white plastron or coachman's scarf.

    The Complete Bachelor | Walter Germain
  • His chest, he thought, must burst under the strapped plastron, and sweat poured in a sheet across his eyes.

    The Bright Shawl | Joseph Hergesheimer
  • The anterior and posterior lobes of the plastron had been folded over the bridge, forming a three-ply thickness of bone.

British Dictionary definitions for plastron

plastron

/ (ˈplæstrən) /


noun
  1. the bony plate forming the ventral part of the shell of a tortoise or turtle

Origin of plastron

1
C16: via French from Italian piastrone, from piastra breastplate, from Latin emplastrum plaster

Derived forms of plastron

  • plastral, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012