Halfpace \Half"pace`\ (-p[=a]s`), n. (Arch.)
   A platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in
   exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight. See
   Quarterpace.
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   Note: This term and quarterpace are rare or unknown in the
         United States, platform or landing being used
         instead.
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	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.
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   2. A place laid out after a model. [Obs.]
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            lf the platform just reflects the order. --Pope.
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   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
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   5. (Naut.) A light deck, usually placed in a section of the
      hold or over the floor of the magazine. See Orlop.
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   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.
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	Platform \Plat"form`\, v. t.
   1. To place on a platform. [R.]
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   2. To form a plan of; to model; to lay out. [Obs.]
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            Church discipline is platformed in the Bible.
                                                  --Milton.
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	platform
     n 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" [syn: political platform, political
        program, program]
     3: the combination of a particular computer and a particular
        operating system
     4: any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons [syn: weapons
        platform]
     5: a woman's shoe with a very high thick sole [syn: chopine,
        chopines, platforms]

	

	154 Moby Thesaurus words for "platform":
   address, agora, amphitheater, arena, athletic field, auditorium,
   background, balcony, bear garden, bench mark, billiard table,
   bookmark, bowl, bowling green, boxing ring, bull ring, cairn,
   campus, canvas, catafalque, catstone, circus, cockpit, coliseum,
   colosseum, course, creed, dais, dead flat, dead level,
   declaration of policy, deliver an address, discourse, earth,
   emplacement, esplanade, estrade, field, flat, flatland, floor,
   forum, gallery, give a talk, ground, guiding principles, gym,
   gymnasium, hall, heliport, hippodrome, homaloid, horizontal,
   horizontal axis, horizontal fault, horizontal line,
   horizontal parallax, horizontal plane, horizontal projection,
   hustings, issue, keynote address, keynote speech, landing,
   landing pad, landing stage, landmark, launching pad, ledge, level,
   level line, level plane, lighthouse, lightship, line, lists,
   locale, mark, marker, marketplace, mat, mean sea level, menhir,
   milepost, milestone, milieu, monument, open forum, palaestra,
   parade ground, parterre, party line, party platform, pharos, pit,
   place, plain, plan of action, plane, plank, podium, policy, polity,
   position paper, prairie, precinct, principles, prize ring,
   procedure, program, public square, pulpit, purlieu, range, ring,
   rostrum, scene, scene of action, scenery, sea level, sea of grass,
   seamark, setting, site, soapbox, speak, speechify, sphere,
   squared circle, stadium, stage, stage set, stage setting, stand,
   step terrace, steppe, stump, table, take the floor, take the stump,
   talk, tenets, terrace, terrain, theater, tilting ground, tiltyard,
   tower, tribunal, tribune, walk, watchtower, water level,
   wrestling ring

	

	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)