footplate

1. (rail transport) 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.Examples: "Unlike the earlier standard designs, in which the whole of the footplate was on the engine, fall plates are re-introduced and these are hinged from the front of the tender to rest on the rearward extension of the cab floor."; "All the same, nearly eight hours on the footplate covering a distance of 320 miles, with an ambient temperature of up to 103° for much of the time, proved an ordeal which I would not lightly undertake again."; "After a while we left the engine, but not before André had examined the 4-6-4 very carefully, with hammer and torch, both outside and underneath. And that was the end of my footplate work on this particular weekend."

2. (anatomy) The flat portion at the base of the stapes; pedicel.Examples: "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."

3. (construction) A timber in a wood frame that distributes a concentrated load.

4. (automotive) A platform on which the driver's foot rests but which, unlike a pedal, has no effect.