Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

rostrum

ros.trum \'ra:s-tr*m\ \-tr*\ n or rostrums or ros.tra [L, beak, ship's 
   beak, fr. rodere to gnaw - more at RAT] [L Rostra, pl., a platform for 
   speakers in the Roman Forum decorated with] pl  the beaks of captured 
   ships, fr. pl. of rostrum 1a: an ancient Roman platform for public orators  
   1b: a stage for public speaking  1c: 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 (as a snout or median projection) suggesting a  bird's bill