metate

[ muh-tah-tee; Spanish me-tah-te ]

noun,plural me·ta·tes [muh-tah-teez; Spanish me-tah-tes]. /məˈtɑ tiz; Spanish mɛˈtɑ tɛs/.
  1. a flat stone that has a shallow depression in the upper surface for holding maize or other grains to be ground with a mano.

Origin of metate

1
1825–35, Americanism;<Mexican Spanish <Nahuatl metlatl

Words Nearby metate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use metate in a sentence

  • They also prepare a drink by parching corn and grinding it to powder on the metate, and mixing it with water and a little achote.

  • Their cooking-utensils consist of the metate, pots made of earthenware, and gourds.

  • On my way I stubbed my stockinged foot against a stone metate or mortar in which Indians and Mexicans make their flour.

    The Killer | Stewart Edward White
  • Being an Indian she quite cheerfully went back to pounding acorns in a metate.

    The Killer | Stewart Edward White
  • The animal he caught he throws toward her where she is kneeling before the metate, so that it falls on her skirt.