platform

Everyday

1. A platform is the raised flat area next to the tracks at a railway station where people wait for and get on trains. tree →
2. A platform is any raised flat surface where people stand, like a stage for speakers. tree →
3. In computers, a platform is a system that programs or games run on, or a website where people share things. tree →
4. Platform shoes have very thick soles. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life: «The train leaves from platform 4.» In video games, a platform is a ledge you jump between (platform games). In safety: stand behind the yellow line on a platform and mind the gap. In stories: Harry Potter's Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Phrases: on the platform, platform number, oil platform, diving platform.

Examples

• Our train leaves from platform 2. tree →
• Stand behind the yellow line on the platform. tree →
• The singer stood on a platform so everyone could see her. tree →
• We waited on the cold platform for twenty minutes. tree →
• The diver jumped from the high platform. tree →
• The game runs on every platform. tree →
• An oil platform stands in the sea. tree →
• Mind the gap between the train and the platform. tree →
• Then the monkey and the hare both hopped out, quickly and nimbly, to the wrestling platform. tree →

Note

Countable: one platform, two platforms. Stress on the first part: PLAT-form. In the UK and Australia «platform» is used for trains; Americans also say «track» (Track 5).

In Jewish tradition

The "platform" is a raised stand for a speaker or a king. Ezra and Nehemiah have Levites stand on one to lead the people in prayer, and Athaliah's story shows the king standing on one by the pillar.

Interpretation. Tradition sees the Levites' platform as a place where teaching and public prayer began, and the king's stand as a sign of royal place in the Temple court.

Examples

• Then stood up upon the platform of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. (Writings NEH.9.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• And she looked, and, behold, the king stood on the platform, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. (Prophets 2KI.11.14, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: one platform, two platforms. Stress on the first part: PLAT-form. In the UK and Australia «platform» is used for trains; Americans also say «track» (Track 5).