a person trained in laying roof slates
dialect a woodlouse See also sea slater
First recorded in 1375–1425, slater is from the late Middle English word sclater. See slate 1, -er 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Louise recounts a slater called John McWilliam, who fled to Stranraer after being accused of witchcraft for a second time, before going on trial in Edinburgh.
From BBC • Oct. 30, 2025
He promised an updated list, but more than six month slater, it has yet to appear.
From BBC • May 26, 2025
A slater on the slope of a neighbouring roof eyed me curiously.
From Lay Morals by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Among the workmen he found his old friend the slater, whose acquaintance he had made on the roof.
From Jean Christophe: in Paris The Market-Place, Antoinette, the House by Cannan, Gilbert
The carpenter and slater have little influence in recommending the repairs of the roof; but the bad painter has great influence, as well as interest, in recommending those of the picture.
From The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3), by Ruskin, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
