PLATFORM definition | Dictionary.com

plat⋅form

[plat-fawrm]

–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

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

plat·form (plāt'fôrm') Pronunciation Key
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.
A place, means, or opportunity for public expression of opinion: a journal that served as a platform for radical views.
A vestibule at the end of a railway car.
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.
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.
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 © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

platform
noun
1.	a raised horizontal surface; "the speaker mounted the platform"
2.	a document stating the aims and principles of a political party; "their candidate simply ignored the party platform"; "they won the election even though they offered no positive program"
3.	the combination of a particular computer and a particular operating system
4.	any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons
5.	a woman's shoe with a very high thick sole [syn: chopine]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

platform (plāt'fôrm') Pronunciation Key

The basic technology of a computer system's hardware and software, defining how a computer is operated and determining what other kinds of software can be used. Additional software or hardware must be compatible with the platform.
The part of a continent's craton (the ancient, relatively undisturbed portion of a continental plate) that is covered by flat or nearly flat strata of sediment.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

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

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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.
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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Platform

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Platform

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

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

Church discipline is platformed in the Bible. --Milton.