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Synonyms

shale

American  
[sheyl] / ʃeɪl /

noun

  1. a rock of fissile or laminated structure formed by the consolidation of clay or argillaceous material.

shale British  
/ ʃeɪl /

noun

  1. a dark fine-grained laminated sedimentary rock formed by compression of successive layers of clay-rich sediment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
shale Scientific  
/ shāl /

  1. A fine-grained sedimentary rock consisting of compacted and hardened clay, silt, or mud. Shale forms in many distinct layers and splits easily into thin sheets or slabs. It varies in color from black or gray to brown or red.

shale Cultural  

  1. A sedimentary rock formed from layers of clay.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of shale

1740–50; origin uncertain; compare obsolete shale to split (said of stone), to shell, derivative of shale shell, husk, Old English scealu shell, husk; see scale 2

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Vocabulary lists containing shale

Earth Science - Middle School

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Earth Science - High School

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Geology - Middle School

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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.

The Burgess Shale, which dates back around 500 million years, contains soft tissues from some of the earliest animal life on Earth.

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026

This type of preservation is more commonly associated with famous Cambrian fossil sites such as the Burgess Shale in Canada.

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

Harold Hamm, Continental Resources’ billionaire founder and a Trump donor, recently said he would stop drilling in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale for the first time in more than 30 years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

“One of the things that killed Global Shale 1.0 was the Permian,” Clarke said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

HOLOCOM: Shale Sabio, please report to laboratory A2122 immediately.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

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.