footplate
noun, verb
footplate is a noun meaning “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-O-O-T-P-L-A-T-E, and it appears about once in every 20 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of footplate is footplates.
What does footplate mean?
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
The engineer's cab in any kind of train.
- 3
The flat portion at the base of the stapes; pedicel.
- 4
The part of a roller skate that attaches to the boot.
- 5
A timber in a wood frame that distributes a concentrated load.
- 6
A platform on which the driver's foot rests but which, unlike a pedal, has no effect.
verb
- 1
To travel (or work) on the footplate of a locomotive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce footplate?
- US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-footplate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of footplate
- footplates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- footplating participle, present
- footplated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is footplate?
Footplate appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Where does footplate come from?
From foot + plate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).