Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - platform

~ n 1 »TRAIN« the raised place beside a railway track where you get on and off a train in a station  (The Edinburgh train will depart from platform six.) 2 »FOR SPEECHES« a raised floor or stage for people to stand on when they are making a speech, performing etc  (He climbed on to the platform and began to address the crowd. | Please address your comments to the platform. (=the people on the platform) | a popular platform speaker) 3 »STRUCTURE« a tall or high structure built so that people can stand or work above the surrounding area  (an oil exploration platform) 4 »POLITICS« a) usually singular) the main ideas and aims of a political party, especially the ones that they state just before an election  (He's running for mayor on a platform of low taxation.)  (- see also plank (2)) b) a chance for someone to express their opinions, especially their political opinions  (The conference provides a platform for people on the left wing of the party.) 5 »BUS« BrE the open part at the back of a double­decker bus, where passengers get on and off the bus 6 »SHOES« also platform shoe a shoe that has a thick layer of wood, leather etc underneath the front part and the heel 7 »COMPUTERS« used to describe the type of computer system or software that you are using  (We're changing from an IBM to a Macintosh platform.)