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A.Word.A.Day--rostrum

rostrum (ROS-truhm, RO-struhm) noun

1. A dais, pulpit, or other elevated platform for public speaking.

2. The curved, beaklike prow of an ancient Roman ship, especially a war galley. The speaker's platform in an ancient Roman forum, which was decorated with the prows of captured enemy ships.

3. Biology. A beaklike or snoutlike projection.

[Latin rostrum, beak.]

"His predecessor Li Peng congratulated him on the rostrum, but it could not have failed to register that about 11 per cent of delegates opposed his 1993 election as premier ... " Carmen Cheung and Fong Tak-ho, Zhu sails in as law chief snubbed, Hong Kong Standard, 18 Mar 1998.

This week's theme: nautical words.

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