[ 'plastrən ]
■ noun
1》 a large pad worn by a fencer to protect the chest.
↘ historical a steel breastplate worn beneath a hauberk.
2》 an ornamental front of a women's bodice, fashionable in the late 19th century.
↘a man's starched shirt front.
3》 Zoology the part of a tortoise's or turtle's shell forming the underside.
↘a similar ventral plate in some invertebrate animals.
Derivatives
plastral adjective
Origin
C16: from Fr., from Ital. piastrone , augmentative of piastra 'breastplate'.