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plastron

American  
[plas-truhn] / ˈplæs trən /

noun

  1. a piece of plate armor for the upper part of the torso in front.

  2. Fencing. a quilted pad worn over part of the torso, for protection.

  3. an ornamental front piece of a woman's bodice.

  4. the starched front of a shirt.

  5. Zoology. the ventral part of the shell of a turtle.


plastron British  
/ ˈplæstrən /

noun

  1. the bony plate forming the ventral part of the shell of a tortoise or turtle

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of plastron

1500–10; < Middle French < Italian piastrone, augmentative of piastra metal plate, piaster. See plaster

Vocabulary lists containing plastron

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

This thin layer of air is called a plastron and for decades, material scientists have been trying to harness its protective effects.

From Science Daily Oct. 4, 2023

The cotton poplin plastron shirt took 11 hours to make, according to the French house.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 25, 2018

Turtles are characterized by a bony or cartilaginous shell, made up of the carapace on the back and the plastron on the ventral surface, which develops from the ribs.

From Textbooks Apr. 25, 2013

It’s perfectly normal for some tortoise species to have a penis that is half the length, or more, of the plastron.

From Scientific American Jun. 9, 2012

Such injuries almost never occurred on the plastron.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.

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