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footplate

[foo t-pleyt]
noun
  1. Carpentry. a plate running beneath and supporting a row of studs; mudsill.
  2. a platform or special floor area on which workers stand to operate a machine.
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Origin of footplate

First recorded in 1840–50; foot + plate1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for footplate

Historical Examples

  • He caught at the rail, mounted the footplate, and swung himself into the cab.

    Sergeant Silk the Prairie Scout

    Robert Leighton

  • When he slid back to the footplate his legs were wet to the mid shin.

    The Grafters

    Francis Lynde

  • But again the corner of the footplate jammed with the corner of the truck, and again we came to a jarring halt.

    London to Ladysmith via Pretoria

    Winston Spencer Churchill

  • He could not help thinking how excellent a thing it would be to come home after a grimy run on the footplate.

    Cleg Kelly, Arab of the City

    S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

British Dictionary definitions for footplate

footplate

noun
  1. mainly British
    1. a platform in the cab of a locomotive on which the crew stand to operate the controls
    2. (as modifier)a footplate man
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
footplate in Medicine

footplate

(fut′plāt′)
n.
  1. base of stapes
  2. pedicel
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.