Part 326

Home plate. (Baseball) See Home base, under Home. -- Plate armor. (a) See Plate, n., 2. (b) Strong metal plates for protecting war vessels, fortifications, and the like. -- Plate bone, the shoulder blade, or scapula. -- Plate girder, a girder, the web of which is formed of a single vertical plate, or of a series of such plates riveted together. -- Plate glass. See under Glass. -- Plate iron, wrought iron plates. -- Plate layer, a workman who lays down the rails of a railway and fixes them to the sleepers or ties. -- Plate mark, a special mark or emblematic figure stamped upon gold or silver plate, to indicate the place of manufacture, the degree of purity, and the like; thus, the local mark for London is a lion. -- Plate paper, a heavy spongy paper, for printing from engraved plates. Fairholt. -- Plate press, a press with a flat carriage and a roller, -- used for printing from engraved steel or copper plates. -- Plate printer, one who prints from engraved plates. -- Plate printing, the act or process of printing from an engraved plate or plates. -- Plate tracery. (Arch.) See under Tracery. - - Plate wheel (Mech.), a wheel, the rim and hub of which are connected by a continuous plate of metal, instead of by arms or spokes.

Plate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plated; p. pr. & vb. n. Plating.] 1. To cover or overlay with gold, silver, or other metals, either by a mechanical process, as hammering, or by a chemical process, as electrotyping.

2. To cover or overlay with plates of metal; to arm with metal for defense.

Thus plated in habiliments of war.

Shak.

3. To adorn with plated metal; as, a plated harness.

4. To beat into thin, flat pieces, or laminÊ.

5. To calender; as, to plate paper.

Pla*teau" (?), n.; pl. F. Plateaux (F. &?;; E. &?;), E. Plateaus (#). [F., fr. OF. platel, properly a little plate. See Plate.] 1. A flat surface; especially, a broad, level, elevated area of land; a table- land.

2. An ornamental dish for the table; a tray or salver.

Plate"ful (?), n.; pl. Platefuls (&?;). Enough to fill a plate; as much as a plate will hold.

Plate"-gilled` (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Having flat, or leaflike, gills, as the bivalve mollusks.

Pla"tel (?), n. [OF. See Plateau.] A small dish.

Plat"en (?), n. [F. platine, fr. plat flat. See Plate, and cf. Platin.] (Mach.) (a) The part of a printing press which presses the paper against the type and by which the impression is made. (b) Hence, an analogous part of a typewriter, on which the paper rests to receive an impression. (c) The movable table of a machine tool, as a planer, on which the work is fastened, and presented to the action of the tool; -- also called table.

Plat"er (?), n. One who plates or coats articles with gold or silver; as, a silver plater.

2. A machine for calendering paper.

Plat`er*esque" (?), a. [Sp. resco, from plata silver.] (Arch.) Resembling silver plate; -- said of certain architectural ornaments.

Plat"e*trope (?), n. [Gr. &?; breadth + &?; to turn.] (Anat.) One of a pair of a paired organs.

Plat"form` (?), n. [Plat, a. + -form: cf. F. plateforme.] 1. A plat; a plan; a sketch; a model; a pattern. Used also figuratively. [Obs.] Bacon.

2. A place laid out after a model. [Obs.]

lf the platform just reflects the order.

Pope.

3. Any flat or horizontal surface; especially, one that is raised above some particular level, as a framework of timber or boards horizontally joined so as to form a roof, or a raised floor, or portion of a floor; a landing; a dais; a stage, for speakers, performers, or workmen; a standing place.

4. A declaration of the principles upon which a person, a sect, or a party proposes to stand; a declared policy or system; as, the Saybrook platform; a political platform. "The platform of Geneva." Hooker.

5. (Naut.) A light deck, usually placed in a section of the hold or over the floor of the magazine. See Orlop.

Platform car, a railway car without permanent raised sides or covering; a f&?;at. -- Platform scale, a weighing machine, with a flat platform on which objects are weighed.

Plat"form`, v. t. 1. To place on a platform. [R.]

2. To form a plan of; to model; to lay out. [Obs.]