plateful
Americannoun
-
the amount that a plate will hold.
-
a large portion or quantity.
a plateful of contracts to negotiate.
Spelling
See -ful.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of plateful
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:
Flag isn’t like the Baxters’ other animals: He can’t pull a plow, track a bear, provide milk, or become a plateful of cracklings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
On breaks between shifts, groups of three or four staff members would sneak away to the employee break area to inhale a paper plateful of turkey and casserole and a slice of pumpkin pie.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2020
It was the product of our imaginations, a plateful of guesswork.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
When evening rolled around, I shimmied my way back to the potluck area and grabbed another plateful, saying a silent thanks to my good fortune and to generous people.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2018
A plateful of hot eggs and a slice of ham.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
People used to stampede down the halls when it was cookie time and grab handfuls or platefuls instead of taking one.
From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2019
In his mind, X. says some strongly-worded things about girls as a concept, eats two platefuls of chubby little doughnuts, and succumbs to several hours of moral and physical melancholy.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 23, 2018
Groups of people were staggering around clutching platefuls of them.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2017
He bounced around, whistling to himself, happily preparing platefuls of dates, fruit and sweets, which he laid out on the floor on a wipe-clean laminated Persian rug.
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2017
If my mother had been in the room, she would have told me these poor people were victims of future husbands and wives who had failed to eat platefuls of food.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
