Main Entry:: ros·trum
Pronunciation:: \ˈräs-trəm also ˈrȯs-\
Function:: noun
Inflected Form(s):: plural ros·tra \-trə\ or rostrums
Etymology:: Latin, beak, ship's beak, from rodere to gnaw — more at rodent
Date:: 1542

1 [Latin Rostra, plural, a platform for speakers in the Roman Forum decorated with the beaks of captured ships, from plural of rostrum] a: an ancient Roman platform for public orators b: a stage for public speaking c: a raised platform on a stage2: the curved end of a ship's prow ; especially : the beak of a war galley3: 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)

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