ˈrästrəm sometimes ˈrȯs- noun
( plural rostrums -trəmz ; or ros·tra -trə)
Etymology: Latin rostrum muzzle, beak, ship's beak, & Latin Rostra (from plural of rostrum ) platform for speakers in the Forum of ancient Rome decorated with the beaks of ships captured in war, from rodere to gnaw — more at rat
1.
a. usually rostra plural but singular in construction : any of various ancient Roman platforms for public orators
b. : a stage for public speaking : a pulpit or platform occupied by an orator or public speaker
c. : a raised platform ; specifically : one upon the stage of a theater usually with a removable top and hinged sides for flat storage and often reached by stairs or a ramp
2. : the curved often ornamental end of a ship's prow ; especially : the beak or ram of a war galley — compare acroterion
3. : a part suggesting a bird's bill: as
a. : the beak, snout, or proboscis of any of various insects and arachnids
b. : the often spinelike anterior median prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean (as a lobster)
c. : the snout of a gastropod mollusk when nonretractile
d. : the grooved extension of any of many gastropod shells protecting the siphon
e. : guard 7c
f. : the interior median spine of the body of the basisphenoid bone articulating with the vomer
g. : the reflected anterior portion of the corpus callosum below the genu
h. : a differentiated scale forming the snout of snakes
i. : the anterior projecting element in the chondrocranium of elasmobranch fishes
4. : a process or prolongation resembling a beak ; specifically : one of the inner segments of the corolla of a milkweed