[ros.trum] n, pl ros.tra or rostrums [L, beak, ship's beak, fr. rodere to gnaw--more at rodent] (1542) 1 [L Rostra, pl., a platform for speakers in the Roman Forum decorated with the beaks of captured ships, fr. pl. of rostrum] a: an ancient Roman platform for public orators b: a stage for public speaking c: a raised platform on a stage
2: the curved end of a ship's prow; esp: the beak of a war galley
3: a bodily part or process suggesting a bird's bill: as a: the beak, snout, or proboscis of any of various insects or arachnids b: the often spinelike anterior median prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean (as a crayfish or lobster)