PLASTRON


Meaning of PLASTRON in English

-trən noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle French, from Old Italian piastrone, aug. of piastra thin metal plate — more at piaster

1.

a. : a metal breastplate worn under the hauberk

b. : a quilted pad worn during fencing practice to protect the chest, waist, and side on which the weapon is held

2.

a.

(1) : the ventral part of the shell of a tortoise or turtle consisting typically of nine symmetrically placed bones overlaid by horny plates

(2) : the ventral armor of other animals (as some extinct amphibians or glyptodonts)

b. : the modified posterior interambulacral area on the under side of a heart urchin

c. : the ventral plate of the cephalothorax of a spider — compare sternum

3. : a separate or attached front for a garment usually extending from neck to waist:

a. : a trimming like a bib for a woman's dress

b. : dickey 1 b

4. : a thin film of air held by hydrofuge hairs of certain aquatic insects

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.