footplate noun 6verb 1forms 3 noun6 •The metal plate which forms the base platform of a steam locomotive and supports the boiler and the driver's cab, particularly in the United Kingdom.This uncoupling done, Gimbert opened the regulator as Nightall climbed back onto the footplate, in order to pull the one burning wagon away from the rest of the bomb-laden train. — 2022 •The engineer's cab in any kind of train.Kit had fallen into conversation with a footplate man who was deadheading back out to Samarkand, where he lived with his wife and children. — 2006 •The flat portion at the base of the stapes; pedicel.The footplate of the stapes develops and ossifies in conjunction with the otic capsule and thus takes its origin from the otic placode in the embryo. — 2008 •The part of a roller skate that attaches to the boot. •A platform on which the driver's foot rests but which, unlike a pedal, has no effect. •A timber in a wood frame that distributes a concentrated load. verb1 •To travel (or work) on the footplate of a locomotive.Hard work is required from men and machines as I was to experience later when footplating Lambton No 5 on five bogies battling its way up Newtondale. — 1979 formsfootplated · footplating · footplates
