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A flat, or nearly flat, piece of metal, the thickness of which is small in comparison with the other dimensions; a thick sheet of metal; as, a steel plate.

The art or process of covering anything with a plate or plates, or with metal, particularly of overlaying a base or dull metal with a thin plate of precious or bright metal, as by mechanical means or by electro-magnetic deposition.

A natural alloy of platinum and iridium occurring in grayish metallic rounded or cubical grains with platinum.

A double chloride of platinum and some other metal or radical; a salt of platinochloric acid.

A double cyanide of platinum and some other metal or radical; a salt of platinocyanic acid.

A metallic element, intermediate in value between silver and gold, occurring native or alloyed with other metals, also as the platinum arsenide (sperrylite). It is heavy tin-white metal which is ductile and malleable, but very infusible, and characterized by its resistance to strong chemical reagents. It is used for cr…

A small instrument of ivory, wood, metal, or quill, used in playing upon the lyre and other stringed instruments.

A kind of small pinchers with long jaws, -- used for bending or cutting metal rods or wire, for handling small objects such as the parts of a watch, etc.

Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole; a stopple.

met; a plumb bob. See Plumb line, below. Plumb bob. See Bob, 4. -- Plumb joint, in sheet-metal work, a lap joint, fastened by solder. -- Plumb level. See under Level. -- Plumb line. (a) The cord by which a plumb bob is suspended; a plummet. (b) A line directed to the center of gravity of the earth. -- Plumb rule, a…

A diseased condition, produced by the absorption of lead, common among workers in this metal or in its compounds, as among painters, typesetters, etc. It is characterized by various symptoms, as lead colic, lead line, and wrist drop. See under Colic, Lead, and Wrist.

To make a quick, hollow, metallic, or harsh sound, as by pulling hard on a taut string and quickly releasing it; of a raven, to croak.

s will ignite substances. -- Pneumatic trough, a trough, generally made of wood or sheet metal, having a perforated shelf, and used, when filled with water or mercury, for collecting gases in chemical operations. -- Pneumatic tube. See Pneumatic dispatch, above.

The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.

That which pokes or is used in poking, especially a metal bar or rod used in stirring a fire of coals.

usually by friction; to burnish; to overspread with luster; as, to polish glass, marble, metals, etc.

or yellow slate, found in Bohemia and Auvergne, and used for polishing glass, marble, and metals. (b) A kind of hone or whetstone; hone slate. -- Polishing snake, a tool used in cleaning lithographic stones. -- Polishing wheel, a wheel or disk coated with, or composed of, abrading material, for polishing a surface.…

e, etc. (see citation); as, a polytype in relief. By pressing the wood cut into semifluid metal, an intaglio matrix is produced: and from this matrix, in a similar way, a polytype in relief is obtained. Hansard.

A Vickers-Maxim one-pounder automatic machine cannon using metallic ammunition fed from a lopped belt attached to the gun; -- popularly so called from its peculiar drumming sound in action. Sometimes, any of other similar automatic cannons.

A ball of silver or other metal, which is filled with hot water, and used by the priest in cold weather to warm his hands during the service.