<Wonders if Animus meant to add a
to that last post.>
OK - here goes. The OED defines platform as:
I. A surface or area on which something may stand, esp. a raised level surface.
1. a. An open walk or terrace, running along the top of a building or a wall. Obs.
b. Gunnery. A level area, originally on a rampart, constructed for mounting artillery. Now also: a vehicle, esp. an aeroplane
2. a. A raised level surface on which people or things can stand, usually a discrete structure intended for a particular activity or operation.
b. spec. The horizontal base of a vehicle resting on wheels, as the bed of a railway carriage, trailer, etc.; an open portion of the floor at the end of a bus or a railway carriage.
c. A raised area running along the side of a railway track at a station, allowing passengers to get on and off trains easily.
d. A base for marine oil or gas drilling, raised on piles above the level of the sea; an offshore oil rig.
e. A high rigid diving board, usually fixed at one of several standard heights between 3 and 10 metres above the surface of the water; (also) the highboard event in a diving competition.
3. fig.
a. The ground, foundation, or basis of an action, event, calculation, condition, etc. Now also: a position achieved or situation brought about which forms the basis for further achievement.
b. A level of thought, morality, etc. Obs.
c. equal dividend platform: (in the Free and United Free Churches of Scotland) the position achieved by churches that draw an equal dividend from the sustentation fund (SUSTENTATION n.
, as opposed to new or mission churches.
4. The area of ground occupied by a structure; the site of a group of buildings, camp, fort, etc. Obs.
5. Naut.
a. A division of the orlop deck of a man-of-war, between the cockpit and the mainmast
b. A light deck in a small boat or yacht; the cabin floor in such a vessel.
6. a. A natural or artificial terrace, a flat elevated piece of ground; a tableland, a plateau; (Physical Geogr.) a level or nearly level strip of land at the base of a cliff close to the water level; (occas.) a similar terrace elsewhere thought to have been originally formed by the sea.
b. Physical Geogr. More fully continental platform. A part of the earth's crust above the level of the ocean basins, comprising the continents and the continental shelves. Also occas.: a continental shelf.
c. Physical Geogr. A former erosion surface or plateau represented by the common surface or summit level of neighbouring hills or other land forms.
d. Geol. A part of a craton where the basement complex, elsewhere exposed as a shield, is overlain by a layer of more recent, relatively flat and undisturbed strata of a mainly sedimentary nature.
7. a. A usually temporary piece of raised flooring at one end of a hall or large space, on which a public speaker stands to address his or her audience, and on which the leaders of a meeting sit; (in extended use) a publication, broadcast, or other means by which a person can publicly express views and opinions. Also: (by metonymy) those who sit on a public stage at meetings and conferences; (hence) the body of people who hold important positions in a society, political party, etc.
b. fig. (orig. U.S.). A basis on which people unitedly take their stand and make a public appeal; (hence) the major policy or set of policies on which a political party (or later also an individual politician) proposes to stand, as declared in electoral manifestos, conventions, etc.; spec. the policy or policies agreed by the representatives of a party assembled in convention to nominate candidates for an election. Also used of public declarations of principles, beliefs, etc., in non-political contexts.
8. Short for platform shoe
9. Aeronaut., etc. A gyroscopically stabilized mounting which is isolated from the angular motion of the craft carrying it and provides an inertial frame for the accelerometers of an inertial guidance system; (also occas.) the gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other instruments associated with this.
10. In a computer game: one of a number of solid surfaces between which characters jump or climb to progress; usu. attrib., esp. in platform game.
11. Computing. A standard system architecture; a (type of) machine and/or operating system, regarded as the base on which software applications are run.
II. A plane surface or representation.
12. A drawing, sketch, or diagram (of a structure); a plan for building; a chart, a map; = PLAN n. 2a. Obs.
13. Geom. A plane or two-dimensional figure; (also) a plane surface, a plane; (more generally) any surface. Obs.
III. A plan, a strategy.
14. a. A plan of action; a scheme or strategy devised to achieve concrete results; = PLAN n. 2a. Obs.
b. A plan for church government and discipline; a system of principles or doctrines, advocated by or on behalf of a religious group or society. Obs.
c. A plan or scheme of government or administration; a plan of political action. Obs.
15. a. A design, a concept, an idea; (something serving as) a pattern or model. Obs.
b. A written outline or sketch; a description, a synopsis. Obs.
