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• gold plate
  gold plate

  noun

  tableware or containers made of gold.
• gold-plate
  gold-plate

  verb (used with object)

  to coat (base metal) with gold, especially by electroplating.

gold plate

¹ American  

noun

gold plates plural

1. tableware or containers made of gold.

2. a plating, especially electroplating, of gold.

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gold-plate ² American  

[gohld-pleyt] / ˈgoʊldˈpleɪt /

verb (used with object)

gold-plated, gold-plating

1. to coat (base metal) with gold, especially by electroplating.

2. to incorporate costly features or refinements into (something) unnecessarily.

   The engineers were accused of gold-plating the construction project.

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gold plate ¹ British  

noun

1. a thin coating of gold, usually produced by electroplating

2. vessels or utensils made of gold

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gold-plate ² British  

verb

1. (tr) to coat (other metal) with gold, usually by electroplating

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gold plates
  plural

Example Sentences

That set off a fresh attempt to gold plate banking standards for the second time in a generation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Fountain, ballpoint and rollerball pens are available — finished in 24-carat gold plate, rhodium, titanium, sterling silver and gunmetal.

From Washington Times • Nov. 13, 2023

A gold plate above his locker says “Employee No. 11.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 1, 2022

They then told me a story about how it was known for its gold and silver mines, but after the islanders angered Apollo by sending him tribute made from gold plate, he flooded the mines.

From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2017

In a maze of colour and guy-ropes, of tent-pegs and tall spears, of chessplayers and sutlers, of tapestried interiors and of gold plate, Arthur of England had sat down to starve his friend.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White