slate1
[sleyt]
- a fine-grained rock formed by the metamorphosis of clay, shale, etc., that tends to split along parallel cleavage planes, usually at an angle to the planes of stratification.
- a thin piece or plate of this rock or a similar material, used especially for roofing or as a writing surface.
- a dull, dark bluish gray.
- a list of candidates, officers, etc., to be considered for nomination, appointment, election, or the like.
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- to cover with or as with slate.
- to write or set down for nomination or appointment: the district leader slated for city judge.
- to plan or designate (something) for a particular place and time; schedule: The premiere was slated for January.
- to censure or criticize harshly or violently; scold.
- to punish severely.
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- clean slate, an unsullied record; a record marked by creditable conduct: to start over with a clean slate.
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Origin of slate1
1300–50; Middle English sclate < Middle French esclate, feminine of esclat piece split off; see slat1
slate2
[sleyt]
- to sic or set a dog on (a person or animal).
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Origin of slate2
1300–50; Middle English slayten < Old Norse *sleita; cognate with Old English slǣtan
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for slate
Contemporary Examples
Instead of wallowing in comedy exile, Slate was earning a book deal.
So with the doors of late night closed to her, Slate had to scale down her ambitions to raise her profile.
Less than a minute into her big break, Slate let slip a highly audible F-bomb instead of the scripted “freaking.”
A May 2014 Slate article by Sam Kean details the tragic changes he suffered “from a virtuous foreman to a sociopathic drifter.”
“A lot of the critical details in the plot were a mishmash of ideas that made no sense,” astronomer Phil Plait wrote at Slate.
Meet Kip Thorne, the Man Who Crafted the Artful Science of ‘Interstellar’Asawin Suebsaeng
November 14, 2014
Historical Examples
Throwing my slate on deck in a high passion, I left the ship and went ashore.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
They stood at the desk, teacher and scholar, Howard bending over his slate.
Tip was back by the kitchen window now, with his slate and book.
The Ma was at least half the size of the slate, while Heman was microscopic; but, alas!
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
It is just as impossible to generalize granite and slate, as it is to generalize a man and a cow.
Modern Painters Volume I (of V)John Ruskin
slate1
- a compact fine-grained metamorphic rock formed by the effects of heat and pressure on shale. It can be split into thin layers along natural cleavage planes and is used as a roofing and paving material
- (as modifier)a slate tile
- a roofing tile of slate
- (formerly) a writing tablet of slate
- a dark grey colour, often with a purplish or bluish tinge
- mainly US and Canadian a list of candidates in an election
- films
- the reference information written on a clapperboard
- informalthe clapperboard itself
- clean slate a record without dishonour
- have a slate loose British and Irish informal to be eccentric or crazy
- on the slate British informal on credit
- wipe the slate clean informal to make a fresh start, esp by forgetting past differences
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- to cover (a roof) with slates
- mainly US to enter (a person's name) on a list, esp on a political slate
- to choose or destinehe was slated to go far
- to plan or schedulethe trial is slated to begin in three weeks
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- of the colour slate
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French esclate, from esclat a fragment; see slat 1
slate2
- to criticize harshly; censure
- to punish or defeat severely
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Word Origin
C19: probably from slate 1
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
Word Origin and History for slate
n.
mid-14c., from Old French esclate, fem. of esclat "split piece, splinter" (Modern French éclat; see slat), so called because the rock splits easily into thin plates. As an adjective, 1510s. As a color, first recorded 1813. Sense of "a writing tablet" (made of slate), first recorded late 14c., led to that of "list of preliminary candidates prepared by party managers," first recorded 1842, from notion of being easily altered or erased. Clean slate (1856) is an image from customer accounts chalked up in a tavern.
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v.
1520s, "to cover with slates" (earlier sclatten, late 15c.), from slate (n.). Meaning "propose, schedule" is from 1883; earlier "to nominate" (1804); the notion is of writing on a slate board. Related: Slated; slating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
slate
[slāt]
- A fine-grained metamorphic rock that forms when shale undergoes metamorphosis. Slate splits into thin layers with smooth surfaces. It ranges in color from gray to black or from red to green, depending on the minerals contained in the shale from which it formed.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with slate
slate
In addition to the idiom beginning with slate
- slated for, be
also see:
- clean slate
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.