What does "platform" mean?
A raised stage from which speeches are made and on which musical and other performances are made.
Platform
/ˈplætfɔːm/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A raised stage from which speeches are made and on which musical and other performances are made.
- Grammar: platform is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: address, agenda, agora, amphitheater.
- Useful contrasts: ambivalence, confusion, ground.
- Usage evidence: Which is the platform for the London train?
How to use "platform"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "platform" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "platform" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "platform" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "platform" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "platform" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "address" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "platform", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A raised stage from which speeches are made and on which musical and other performances are made.
"Always, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, as in private conversation, there is an absolute simplicity about the man and his words; a simplicity, an earnestness, a complete honesty."
- 2 a woman's shoe with a very high thick sole wordnet
- 3 A raised floor for any purpose, e.g. for workmen during construction, or formerly for military cannon.
- 4 a raised horizontal surface wordnet
- 5 A place or an opportunity to express one's opinion. figuratively
"This new talk show will give a platform to everyday men and women."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons wordnet
- 7 Something that allows an enterprise to advance. figuratively
"Hidgson may actually feel England could have scored even more but this was the perfect first step on the road to Rio in 2014 and the ideal platform for the second qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Tuesday."
- 8 the combination of a particular computer and a particular operating system wordnet
- 9 A political stance on a broad set of issues, which are called planks. figuratively
"Now if the earth could be enjoyed in such a manner as every one might have provision, as it may by this platform I have offered, then will the peace of the commonwealth be preserved, and men need not act so hypocritically as the clergy do, and others likewise, to get a living."
- 10 a long, flat raised structure of a railway station, where people get on and off of trains wordnet
- 11 A raised structure or other area alongside rails or a driveway alongside which vehicles stop to take in and discharge passengers.
"We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.[…]As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other."
- 12 a document stating the aims and principles of a political party wordnet
- 13 Ellipsis of platform shoe (“a kind of high shoe with an extra layer between the inner and outer soles”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, in-plural
"Now open the album cover! How fabulous! The four of them [the Pointer Sisters] in platforms of death, tacky gowns, and "reflections of.""
- 14 A software system used to provide online services to clients, such as social media, e-commerce, or cloud computing. Internet
"Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend."
- 15 A particular operating system or environment such as a database or other specific software; a particular type of computer or microprocessor, used for running other software.
"That program runs on the X Window System platform."
- 16 Ellipsis of car platform (“a set of components shared by several vehicle models”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"A car platform consists of the underbody, suspension, and axles, plus components such as the steering mechanism, engine, and powertrain. Using such a platform, a car company can design several distinct car models to suit different customer groups[…]"
- 17 A flat expanse of rock, often the result of wave erosion.
"Wave erosion causes a sea cliff to migrate landward, leaving a gently sloping surface, called a wave-cut platform. A wave-built platform originates by deposition at the seaward margin of the wave-cut platform."
- 18 A light deck, usually placed in a section of the hold or over the floor of the magazine.
- 19 A plan; a sketch; a model; a pattern. obsolete
"His destruction intended by queene Quendred, hir platforme of the practise to kill him."
- 20 A sidewalk. Myanmar
Verb
- 1 To furnish with or shape into a platform transitive
"[…] upon a smiling knoll platformed by Nature […]"
- 2 To place on, or as if on, a platform. transitive
"And this dog was satisfied / If a pale thin hand would glide / Down his dewlaps sloping / Which he pushed his nose within, / After—platforming his chin / On the palm left open."
- 3 To place a train alongside a station platform.
"There he was welcomed onboard Vivarail's new three-car battery-powered train and Porterbrook's HydroFLEX hydrogen-powered train, which had been platformed side-by-side to showcase the potential of these low-carbon alternative technologies."
- 4 To include in a political platform transitive
"Among them I scarcely can plot out one truth / Plain enough to be platformed by some voting sleuth / And paraded before the precinct polling-booth."
- 5 To publish or make visible; to provide a platform for (a topic etc.). transitive
"We want to platform the larger, unspoken issue of menstrual health and hygiene of women at work, and how we as a society need to start taking cognizance of it and start adopting measures to help our women workforce navigate it with ease."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To open (a film) in a small number of theaters before a broader release in order to generate enthusiasm. transitive
"But serious movies are not necessarily good movies. A studio that decides to platform a film had better be sure the film will get the necessary good reviews and audience approval. Otherwise, like United Artists' "A Small Circle of Friends," which was platformed around the same time as "The Elephant Man," the film will fail calamitously."
- 7 To form a plan of; to model; to lay out. obsolete, transitive
"I have ſaid what is meet to ſome who do not think it for the eaſe of their inconſequent Opinions, to grant that Church-Diſcipline is platform'd in the Bible, but that it is left to the diſcretion of Men."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Which is the platform for the London train?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "platform"?
Common synonyms include: address, agenda, agora, amphitheater, architected tooling, arena.
How do you use "platform" in a sentence?
Which is the platform for the London train?
How do you pronounce "platform"?
Pronounced /ˈplætfɔːm/.
Etymology
From Middle French plateforme (“a flat form”), from plate (“flat”) (from Old French plat, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “flat”)) + forme (“form”) (from Latin fōrma (“shape; figure; form”)); compare flatscape.