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Definition of platform - 11 dictionary results
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plat⋅form

  [plat-fawrm]
Use platform in a Sentence
–noun
1. a horizontal surface or structure with a horizontal surface raised above the level of the surrounding area.
2. a raised flooring or other horizontal surface, such as, in a hall or meeting place, a stage for use by public speakers, performers, etc.
3. the raised area between or alongside the tracks of a railroad station, from which the cars of the train are entered.
4. the open entrance area, or the vestibule, at the end of a railroad passenger car.
5. a landing in a flight of stairs.
6. a public statement of the principles, objectives, and policy of a political party, esp. as put forth by the representatives of the party in a convention to nominate candidates for an election: The platform contained the usual platitudes.
7. a body of principles on which a person or group takes a stand in appealing to the public; program: The Fabians developed an all-embracing platform promising utopia.
8. a set of principles; plan.
9. a place for public discussion; forum.
10. a decklike construction on which the drill rig of an offshore oil or gas well is erected.
11. Building Trades. a relatively flat member or construction for distributing weight, as a wall plate, grillage, etc.
12. Military.
a. solid ground on which artillery pieces are mounted.
b. a metal stand or base attached to certain types of artillery pieces.
13. Nautical. flat 1 (def. 42a).
14. a flat, elevated piece of ground.
15. Geology. a vast area of undisturbed sedimentary rocks that, together with a shield, constitutes a craton.
16. a thick insert of leather, cork, or other sturdy material between the uppers and the sole of a shoe, usually intended for stylish effect or to give added height.
17. platforms, platform shoes.
18.
a. hardware platform.
b. software platform.
19. a scheme of religious principles or doctrines.
Origin:
1540–50; earlier platte forme < MF: lit., flat form, plane figure. See plate 1 , form

Related forms:
plat⋅form⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
2. stage, dais, rostrum, pulpit.
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flat

1  [flat] adjective, flat⋅ter, flat⋅test, noun, verb, flat⋅ted, flat⋅ting, adverb
–adjective
1. horizontally level: a flat roof.
2. level, even, or without unevenness of surface, as land or tabletops.
3. having a surface that is without marked projections or depressions: a broad, flat face.
4. lying horizontally and at full length, as a person; prostrate: He was flat on the canvas after the knockdown.
5. lying wholly on or against something: The banner was flat against the wall.
6. thrown down, laid low, or level with the ground, as fallen trees or buildings.
7. having a generally level shape or appearance; not deep or thick: a flat plate.
8. (of the heel of a shoe) low and broad.
9. spread out, as an unrolled map or the open hand.
10. deflated; collapsed: a flat tire.
11. absolute, downright, or positive; without qualification: a flat denial.
12. without modification or variation: a flat rate.
13. Informal. lacking money; broke.
14. without vitality or animation; lifeless; dull: flat writing.
15. having lost its flavor, sharpness, or life, as wine or food; stale.
16. (of a beverage) having lost its effervescence.
17. without flavor; not spiced: flat cooking.
18. prosaic, banal, or insipid: a flat style.
19. pointless, as a remark or joke.
20. commercially inactive: a flat day in the stock market.
21. (of a painting) not having the illusion of volume or depth.
22. (of a photograph or painting) lacking contrast or gradations of tone or color.
23. (of paint) without gloss; not shiny; mat.
24. not clear, sharp, or ringing, as sound or a voice.
25. lacking resonance and variation in pitch; monotonous: a flat delivery of the speech.
26. Music.
a. (of a tone) lowered a half step in pitch: B flat.
b. below an intended pitch, as a note; too low (opposed to sharp ).
27. Grammar. derived without change in form, as English to brush from the noun brush and adverbs that do not add -ly to the adjective form as fast, cheap, and slow.
28. Phonetics. lenis; voiced.
29. Nautical. (of a sail)
a. cut with little or no fullness.
b. trimmed as nearly fore-and-aft as possible, for sailing to windward.
30. flat a, the a-sound (a) of glad, bat, or act.
–noun
31. something flat.
32. a shoe, esp. a woman's shoe, with a flat heel or no heel.
33. a flat surface, side, or part of anything: He struck me with the flat of his hand.
34. flat or level ground; a flat area: salt flats.
35. a marsh, shoal, or shallow.
36. Music.
a. (in musical notation) the character ♭, which when attached to a note or to a staff degree lowers its significance one chromatic half step.
b. a tone one chromatic half step below another: The flat of B is B flat.
c. (on keyboard instruments, with reference to any given note) the key next below or to the left.
37. Theater. a piece of scenery consisting of a wooden frame, usually rectangular, covered with lightweight board or fabric.
38. a broad, thin book, chiefly for children: a juvenile flat.
39. Informal. a deflated automobile tire.
40. (in postal use) a large flat package, as in a manila envelope, for mailing.
41. Architecture. a flat roof or deck.
42. Nautical.
a. Also called platform. a partial deck between two full decks.
b. a low, flat barge or lighter.
43. Shipbuilding.
a. a broad, flat piece of iron or steel for overlapping and joining two plates at their edges.
b. a straight timber in a frame or other assembly of generally curved timbers.
44. an iron or steel bar of rectangular cross section.
45. Textiles. one of a series of laths covered with card clothing, used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.
46. Photography. one or more negatives or positives in position to be reproduced.
47. Printing. a device for holding a negative or positive flat for reproduction by photoengraving.
48. Horticulture. a shallow, lidless box or tray used for rooting seeds and cuttings and for growing young plants.
49. a similar box used for shipping and selling fruits and vegetables.
50. Football. the area of the field immediately inside of or outside of an offensive end, close behind or at the line of scrimmage.
51. flats, Informal. flat races between horses. Compare flat race.
–verb (used with object)
52. to make flat.
53. Music. to lower (a pitch), esp. one half step.
–verb (used without object)
54. to become flat.
–adverb
55. in a flat position; horizontally; levelly.
56. in a flat manner; positively; absolutely.
57. completely; utterly: flat broke.
58. exactly; precisely: She ran around the track in two minutes flat.
59. Music. below the true pitch: to sing flat.
60. Finance. without interest.
—Verb phrase
61. flat in, Nautical. to pull the clew of (a fore-and-aft sail) as nearly amidships as possible. Also, flatten in.
—Idioms
62. fall flat, to fail to produce the desired effect; fail completely: His attempts at humor fell flat.
63. flat aft, Nautical. trimmed so that fore-and-aft sails present as flat a surface as possible, as in sailing close to the wind.
64. flat on one's back. back (def. 19).
65. flat out, Informal.
a. without hesitation; directly or openly: He told us flat out he'd been a double agent.
b. at full speed or with maximum effort.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME < ON flatr, akin to OE flet (see flat 2 ), Gk platýs (see platy-, plate 1

Related forms:
flatly, adverb
flatness, noun

Synonyms:
1. plane. See level. 4. low, prone. 11. outright, peremptory, categorical. 14. boring, spiritless, prosaic. 17. vapid, unsavory.

Antonyms:
1, 4. upright, vertical. 14. spirited. 17. savory.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To platform
plat·form   (plāt'fôrm')   
n.  

    1. A horizontal surface raised above the level of the adjacent area, as a stage for public speaking or a landing alongside railroad tracks.

    2. A vessel, such as a submarine or an aircraft carrier, from which weapons can be deployed.

    3. An oil platform.

    4. A thick layer, as of leather or cork, between the inner and outer soles of a shoe, giving added height.

    5. A shoe having such a construction.

    6. A flat elevated portion of ground.

    7. The ancient, stable, interior layer of a continental craton composed of igneous or metamorphic rocks covered by a thin layer of sedimentary rock.

  2. A place, means, or opportunity for public expression of opinion: a journal that served as a platform for radical views.

  3. A vestibule at the end of a railway car.

  4. A formal declaration of the principles on which a group, such as a political party, makes its appeal to the public.

    1. A thick layer, as of leather or cork, between the inner and outer soles of a shoe, giving added height.

    2. A shoe having such a construction.

    3. A flat elevated portion of ground.

    4. The ancient, stable, interior layer of a continental craton composed of igneous or metamorphic rocks covered by a thin layer of sedimentary rock.

  6. Computer Science The basic technology of a computer system's hardware and software that defines how a computer is operated and determines what other kinds of software can be used.

  7. Geology

    1. A flat elevated portion of ground.

    2. The ancient, stable, interior layer of a continental craton composed of igneous or metamorphic rocks covered by a thin layer of sedimentary rock.


[French plate-forme, diagram, from Old French : plat, flat; see plate + forme, form (from Latin fōrma).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

platform

A political party's or candidate's written statement of principles and plans. A platform is usually developed by a committee at the party convention during a presidential campaign.


platform

The combination of computer hardware and operating system that applications must be compatible with.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

flat  (adj.)
c.1320, from O.N. flatr, from P.Gmc. *flataz (cf. O.H.G. flaz "flat, level," O.E. flet, O.H.G. flezzi "floor"), perhaps from PIE *pla- (cf. Gk. platys "broad, flat;" see place (n.)). Sense of "prosaic, dull" is from 1573; used of drink from 1607; of musical notes from 1591, because the tone is "lowered." Flatfish is from 1710. Flat-footed "unprepared" is 1912 U.S. baseball slang, on notion of "not on one's toes; earlier it meant "straightforwardly" (1828), from notion of "standing firmly." Flat-out (adv.) "openly, directly" is from 1932; earlier it was a noun meaning "total failure" (1870, U.S. colloquial). Flatware is distinguished from hollow ware.

platform 
1550, "plan of action, scheme, design," from M.Fr. plate-forme, lit. "flat form," from O.Fr. plate "flat" (see plat) + forme "form" (see form). The literal sense of "raised, level surface" is first recorded 1560. Political meaning, "statement of party policies," is from 1803, probably originally an image of a lit. platform on which politicians gather, stand, and make their appeals, perhaps influenced by earlier sense of "set of rules governing church doctrine" (first attested 1573). Railroad station sense is from 1838.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

flat

  1. Of, relating to, or being a market maker's inventory position that is neither long nor short; that is, the inventory is zero.

  2. Of, relating to, or being a bond that trades without accrued interest. For example, bonds of a company in bankruptcy proceedings trade flat. A bond trading flat is indicated in bond transaction tables by the symbol f.


Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: flat
Function: adverb
: without interest charge; especially : without allowance or charge for accrued interest flat>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: flat
Pronunciation: 'flat
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: flat·ter; flat·test
1 : being orcharacterized by a horizontal line or tracing without peaks or depressions flat indicating that her brain function is gone —Don Gold>
2 : characterized by general impoverishment in the presence of emotion-evoking stimuli <flat affect often occurs in schizophrenia> —flat·ness noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

platform
Specific computer hardware, as in the phrase "platform-independent". It may also refer to a specific combination of hardware and operating system and/or compiler, as in "this program has been ported to several platforms". It is also used to refer to support software for a particular activity, as in "This program provides a platform for research into routing protocols".
(1994-12-07)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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