Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Rostrum?

\Ros"trum\ (-tr[u^]m), n.; pl. L. {Rostra}, E. {Rostrums}. [L., beak, ship's beak, fr. rodere, rosum, to gnaw. See {Rodent}.] 1. The beak or head of a ship. 2. pl. ({Rostra}) (Rom. Antiq.) The Beaks; the stage or platform in the forum where orations, pleadings, funeral harangues, etc., were delivered; -- so called because after the Latin war, it was adorned with the beaks of captured vessels; later, applied also to other platforms erected in Rome for the use of public orators. 3. Hence, a stage for public speaking; the pulpit or platform occupied by an orator or public speaker. Myself will mount the rostrum in his favor. --Addison. 4. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any beaklike prolongation, esp. of the head of an animal, as the beak of birds. (b) The beak, or sucking mouth parts, of Hemiptera. (c) The snout of a gastropod mollusk. See Illust. of {Littorina}. (d) The anterior, often spinelike, prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean, as in the lobster and the prawn. 5. (Bot.) Same as {Rostellum}. 6. (Old Chem.) The pipe to convey the distilling liquor into its receiver in the common alembic. --Quincy. 7. (Surg.) A pair of forceps of various kinds, having a beaklike form. [Obs.] --Coxe.