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.

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plastron British  

/ ˈplæstrən /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• plastral adjective

Etymology

Origin of plastron

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

Example Sentences

Cones etched onto the substrate make the water droplets glide on an air-film gap, known as a plastron.

From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2024

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

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2018

The shell consists of the ventral surface called the plastron and the dorsal surface called the carapace, which develops from the ribs.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

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

In T. ornata nevertheless, both lobes of the plastron are deficient on their lateral margins; four narrow openings remain when the lobes are drawn shut.

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