platter

[plat-er]

noun

1. a large, shallow dish, usually elliptical in shape, for holding and serving food, especially meat or fish.

2. a course of a meal, usually consisting of a variety of foods served on the same plate.

3. Slang.,  a phonograph record.

4. Computers.,  a hard disk, the rigid circular plate that rotates on a spindle within a hard disk drive, for data encoding and retrieval.

5. Movie Slang.,  a part of a motion-picture projector, consisting of a large, horizontally rotating disk that houses a feature film.

platter

/ ˈplætə /

noun

1. a large shallow usually oval dish or plate, used for serving food

2. a course of a meal, usually consisting of several different foods served on the same plate

   a seafood platter

Word History and Origins

Origin of platter¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English plater, from Anglo-French, derivative of plat “dish”; plate ¹, -er ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of platter¹

C14: from Anglo-Norman plater, from plat dish, from Old French plat flat; see _plate

Idioms and Phrases

see under hand to on a silver platter.

Example Sentences

As someone who tends to get a little skittish about communal chip bowls or dip platters, the individual chips bags are really appealing.

From Salon

The diner, which had been serving up hot coffee, burgers and breakfast platters for more than 100 years, was acquired this week by real estate developer Leo Pustilnikov.

From Los Angeles Times

The other advert featured a metal cloche being lifted to show a bottle of Jagermeister on a silver platter.

From BBC

“Great American food,” he called it, grinning in front of platters of Wendy’s.

From Salon

The Beach Boys, who will star in a big rock ‘n’ roll show Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl, own quite a collection of gold records, awarded for platter sales of a million or more.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• disc 
• dish 
• disk 
• tray