metate

American  

[muh-tah-tee, me-tah-te] / məˈtɑ ti, mɛˈtɑ tɛ /

noun

plural

metates

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.

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Etymology

Origin of metate

1825–35, < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl metlatl

Example Sentences

The woman's mother had buried her molcajete, metate, comal, and cazuelas in a hole in the ground and fled.

From Salon

Each of the seating areas has a bench shaped like a metate and a brand that marks the cattle of that region.

From Los Angeles Times

In a shaded courtyard overgrown with succulents, Margarita, with her graying pigtails and brightly embroidered apron, had crushed rice, which had been soaking for an hour or so, on a metate, a hollowed, mortarlike stone.

From New York Times

Now and then she flicked bits of cinnamon onto the pocked ashen surface of the metate.

From New York Times

Good moles are usually done either in a stone mill or in a metate.

From Washington Post