slat

¹ American  

[slat] / slæt /

noun

1. a long thin, narrow strip of wood, metal, etc., used as a support for a bed, as one of the horizontal laths of a Venetian blind, etc.

2. Aeronautics. a control surface along the leading edge of a wing that can be extended forward to create a gap slot to improve airflow.

3. Slang. slats,

   1. the ribs.

   2. the buttocks.

   3. Slats, a nickname for a tall, slender man.

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verb (used with object)

slatted, slatting

1. to furnish or make with slats

slat ² American  

[slat] / slæt /

verb (used with object)

slatted, slatting

1. to throw or dash with force.

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verb (used without object)

slatted, slatting

1. to flap violently, as sails.

noun

1. a slap; a sharp blow.

slat ¹ British  

/ slæt /

noun

1. a narrow thin strip of wood or metal, as used in a Venetian blind, etc

2. a movable or fixed auxiliary aerofoil attached to the leading edge of an aircraft wing to increase lift, esp during landing and takeoff

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verb

1. (tr) to provide with slats

slat ² British  

/ slæt /

verb

1. (tr) to throw violently; fling carelessly

2. (intr) to flap violently

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noun

1. a sudden blow

slat ³ British  

/ slæt /

noun

1. a spent salmon

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Etymology

Origin of slat¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English sclat, slat(te “a roofing tile, slate,” from Middle French esclat “splinter, chip”; éclat

Origin of slat²

First recorded in 1200–50; of obscure origin; possibly from Old Norse sletta “to slap, splash”

Example Sentences

A robot slurry scraper travels up and down the cowshed at regular intervals, pushing any manure through the slatted floor into the vast storage pit below.

From BBC

But Magic was looking at a long object made of wooden slats nailed together that curled back on themselves at one end.

From Literature

Next to his doorstep, a bench with red, white and blue slats is emblazoned with the words "God Bless America."

From Barron's

The second category is subdivided into “80% privacy: sliding/slatted doors,” “50% privacy: glass doors with walls,” and “zero privacy: no door, no wall, or wall with window.”

From The Wall Street Journal

I went to the island's modest-looking parliament, the body of it built in a Scandinavian style with wooden slats and painted the same burnished red as the Greenlandic flags fluttering by the entrance.

From BBC

Related Words

• bar
• bat
• baton
• cane
• club
• rod
• slab
• stalk
• strip
• wand
• wedge