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silver plate
silver platenounsilver tableware.
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silver-plate
silver-plateverb (used with object)to coat (base metal) with silver, especially by electroplating.
silver plate
1 Americannoun
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silver tableware.
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a coating of silver, especially one electroplated on base metal.
verb (used with object)
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silver-plates,
present (3rd person singular)
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silver-plated,
past participle, past
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silver-plating
present participle
noun
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a thin layer of silver deposited on a base metal
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articles, esp tableware, made of silver plate
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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silver-platesimple
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silver-platessimple
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have silver-platedperfect
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has silver-platedperfect
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am silver-platingprogressive
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are silver-platingprogressive
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is silver-platingprogressive
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have been silver-platingperfect progressive
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has been silver-platingperfect progressive
Past
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silver-platedsimple
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had silver-platedperfect
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was silver-platingprogressive
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were silver-platingprogressive
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had been silver-platingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of silver plate
First recorded in 1520–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Oh, ‘we’ve lost this giant silver plate in this huge special box.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Like many others, he was at the family-run gold dealership in London to sell some precious metal - in his case a silver plate which had been "lying around the house".
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
In the fresco, it is served on a silver plate and a wine chalice stands next to it.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
During arti, you stood in front of the gods and offered them light, clutching a silver plate holding ghee-drenched cotton ball flames and marigolds.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2022
I glance at a silver plate on the wall, which shows only a distorted and blurred image of myself.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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There would be mismatched antique silver-plate utensils in the kitchen drawers, and the beds would be dressed in neutral-color linens from West Elm and Pine Cone Hill.
From New York Times ● Oct. 1, 2016
Patinated brass handles give Nalata Nalata’s Ihada silver-plate flatware a graceful antique look; $230 for a five-piece set.
From Architectural Digest ● Dec. 5, 2014
Which explains how the Mayfair peeress who asked me for cocktails one day has a villa packed with Vieux Paris silver-plate and Louis XVI armchairs covered in needlepoint scenes from La Fontaine’s “Fables.”
From New York Times ● May 20, 2011
Design becomes art in Lino Sabattini's silver-plate tea and coffee service and Ernest Race's shaped steel-rod chair.
From Time Magazine Archive
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They said there’d been two white twins from America riding ’round Chatham on two white stallions whilst toting two of the fanciest pearl-handle, silver-plate pistols just like the one the Preacher said he found.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Tell me of all the riches and jewels—the gold and silver-plates you eat from, the jewelry you have to wear, the rich silks—all of it!
From Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies The Missing Pearl Necklace by Alice B. Emerson
The images date back as far as the 1840s when the Daguerrotype process that popularized photography and made images printed on silver-plated copper sheets common keepsakes.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Brass angel candlesticks scored for $2 apiece at a Palo Alto garage sale flank a silver-plated punch bowl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
Items that are silver-plated can sometimes be marked as well, although their value is generally have much lower.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
Around 400 items, including silver-plated menorahs, hanukkiahs, tableware and daily use items were uncovered in the city of Lodz last month during the renovation of a house and yard.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
The starter’s silver-plated gong rang, a sprocket turned, a valve opened, and the engine whooshed to life on exquisitely machined shafts and bearings.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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So in Nashville, Biochemist Paul F. Hahn is trying to fool the body by silver-plating his radio-gold.
From Time Magazine Archive
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There's some fine engraving on the silver-plating, noble sentiment, deftly expressed, and done in the engraver's best style.
From Quiet Talks on John's Gospel by S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon
As commercial cyanide of potassium generally contains an unknown percentage of other salts, which, however, do not interfere with its value for the purpose of silver-plating, the simplest procedure is as follows.
From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall
Here—a man selling silvering-liquor, to be applied to vulgar yellow spoons, only a franc a bottle, and a whole set turned into purest silver-plating, plating that will not wear out through all your lives.
From In Troubadour-Land A Ramble in Provence and Languedoc by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
Later they began to do the same thing with silver, silver-plating especially the ornaments of horses and carriages.
From Characters and events of Roman History by Frances Lance Ferrero
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