platform
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈplætfɔːm/
ipa: /ˈplætfɔɹm/
rhymes: -ætfɔː(ɹ)m
Forms: form: platforms
Etymology: From Middle French plateforme (“a flat form”), from plate (“flat”) (from Old French plat, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “flat”)) + forme (“form”) (from Latin fōrma (“shape; figure; form”)); compare flatscape.
Senses: examples: text: Always, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, as in private conversation, there is an absolute simplicity about the man and his words; a simplicity, an earnestness, a complete honesty.
ref: 1915, Russell H. Conwell, Robert Shackleton, chapter IV, in Acres of Diamonds, His Life and Achievements:
text: “[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
synonyms: word: dais
word: podium
english: speeches
translation: speeches
glosses: A raised stage from which speeches are made and on which musical and other performances are made.
glosses: A raised floor for any purpose, e.g. for workmen during construction, or formerly for military cannon.
examples: text: This new talk show will give a platform to everyday men and women.
text: [LeBron] James did not say which vaccine he had taken or the number of doses he had received. He also said that he would not use his platform to publicly encourage others to be vaccinated.
ref: 2021 September 28, Scott Cacciola, “LeBron James said he was vaccinated, after previously evading the question.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
synonyms: tribune
glosses: A place or an opportunity to express one's opinion.
examples: text: Hidgson may actually feel England could have scored even more but this was the perfect first step on the road to Rio in 2014 and the ideal platform for the second qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Tuesday.
ref: 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
synonyms: foundation
stage
glosses: Something that allows an enterprise to advance.
examples: text: Now if the earth could be enjoyed in such a manner as every one might have provision, as it may by this platform I have offered, then will the peace of the commonwealth be preserved, and men need not act so hypocritically as the clergy do, and others likewise, to get a living.
ref: 1652, Gerrard Winstanley, chapter 1, in The Law of Freedom in a Platform:
text: The Communist Party and its candidates stand on the following platform, which expresses the immediate interests of the majority of the population of our country.
ref: 1936, Communist Election Platform 1936, New York City: Workers Library Publishers, page 6:
text: Surely there is nothing strange or new or threatening about such a platform. It will distress only those who have the essentially un-American view that change itself is frightening and should be avoided at all costs.
ref: 1972, Mike Gravel, Citizen Power: A People's Platform, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →ISBN, page xii:
topics: government
politics
glosses: A political stance on a broad set of issues, which are called planks.
examples: text: We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.[…]As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: People on the platforms / Waiting for the trains / I can hear their hearts a-beatin’ / Like pendulums swinging on chains
ref: 1997, Bob Dylan, “Tryin' to Get to Heaven”, in Time Out of Mind:
text: “Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don’t seem to have built it yet, do they?”
ref: 1997 June 26, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter; 1), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:
text: A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. […] Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?
ref: 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
topics: transport
glosses: A raised structure or other area alongside rails or a driveway alongside which vehicles stop to take in and discharge passengers.
examples: text: Now open the album cover! How fabulous! The four of them [the Pointer Sisters] in platforms of death, tacky gowns, and "reflections of."
ref: 1973 August 25, Jim Fournier, “Lo♡in' Mu𝄚ic”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 10, page 2:
text: Walk to Shazzer's from polling station was hideous walk of shame. Also cannot wear platforms now as feet too crippled so will look short.
ref: 2001 [1999], Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, New York: Penguin, →ISBN, page 167:
qualifier: footwear
glosses: Ellipsis of platform shoe (“a kind of high shoe with an extra layer between the inner and outer soles”).
examples: text: Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
ref: 2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:
text: In fact, wealth and power are shifting to those who control the platforms on which all of us create, consume, and connect.
ref: 2014, Astra Taylor, “Preface”, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN:
text: The promise of the platform business model is its magical self-reinforcement: Once the platform is in place, money is supposed to flow through the system without much extra effort at all.
ref: 2021 September 15, Reeves Wiedeman, “Why Does Every Company Now Want to Be a Platform?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
glosses: A software system used to provide online services to clients, such as social media, e-commerce, or cloud computing.
examples: text: That program runs on the X Window System platform.
text: “We used to produce our publication on the Mac, but the Wintel platform is cheaper and there are just as many applications available. So it just seemed to make sense to give up the religious war and get on with the business of doing our job,” said the information systems manager at a New York-based magazine, who asked not to be named.
ref: 1996 September 23, “Intel attacks Mac publishing niche”, in Computerworld, volume 30, number 39, →ISSN, page 56:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A particular operating system or environment such as a database or other specific software; a particular type of computer or microprocessor, used for running other software.
examples: text: A car platform consists of the underbody, suspension, and axles, plus components such as the steering mechanism, engine, and powertrain. Using such a platform, a car company can design several distinct car models to suit different customer groups[…]
ref: 2017, Vinod K. Jain, Global Strategy: Competing in the Connected Economy, Routledge, →ISBN, page 131:
topics: automotive
transport
vehicles
glosses: Ellipsis of car platform (“a set of components shared by several vehicle models”).
examples: text: Wave erosion causes a sea cliff to migrate landward, leaving a gently sloping surface, called a wave-cut platform. A wave-built platform originates by deposition at the seaward margin of the wave-cut platform.
ref: 2019, Reed Wicander, James S. Monroe, Geology: Earth in Perspective, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 319:
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: A flat expanse of rock, often the result of wave erosion.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A light deck, usually placed in a section of the hold or over the floor of the magazine.
examples: text: His destruction intended by queene Quendred, hir platforme of the practise to kill him.
ref: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC:
glosses: A plan; a sketch; a model; a pattern.
glosses: A sidewalk.
Derived terms: abrasion platform
aerial work platform
bay platform
cross-platform
dance platform
deplatform
diving platform
elevating work platform
flatform
inner-platform effect
interplatform
intraplatform
mobile elevated work platform
mobile elevating work platform
monoplatform
multiplatform
multi-platform
nanoplatform
non-platform
no-platform
orbital defense platform
periplatform
platform balance
platform bed
platform boot
platform bridge
platform capitalism
platform car
platform crane
platform door
platform edge
platform edge door
platformer
platformful
platform game
platform-independent
platforming
platformish
platformism
platformist
platformization
platformless
platformlike
platform loop
platform rocker
platform scale
platform screen door
platform shoe
platform-specific
platform tennis
platform ticket
platformward
platformy
puzzle-platform
replatform
single-platform
subplatform
swim platform
traversing platform
unplatform