slate

[sleyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slate ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object), slat·ed, slat·ing.

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.

Idioms

clean slate, an unsullied record; a record marked by creditable conduct: to start over with a clean slate.

Origin of slate

1300–50; Middle English sclate < Middle French esclate, feminine of esclat piece split off; see slat¹

slate

[sleyt]

verb (used with object), slat·ed, slat·ing. British.

to sic or set a dog on (a person or animal).

Origin of slate

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. 2019

Related Words for slate

ballot, roster, record, register, tablet, schedule

Examples from the Web for slate

Contemporary Examples of slate

Instead of wallowing in comedy exile, Slate was earning a book deal.
The Curious Little Shell That Restarted Jenny Slate’s Career
Luke Hopping
December 15, 2014
So with the doors of late night closed to her, Slate had to scale down her ambitions to raise her profile.
The Curious Little Shell That Restarted Jenny Slate’s Career
Luke Hopping
December 15, 2014
Less than a minute into her big break, Slate let slip a highly audible F-bomb instead of the scripted “freaking.”
The Curious Little Shell That Restarted Jenny Slate’s Career
Luke Hopping
December 15, 2014
A May 2014 Slate article by Sam Kean details the tragic changes he suffered “from a virtuous foreman to a sociopathic drifter.”
Understanding Tracy Morgan’s Traumatic Brain Injury
Jean Kim
November 20, 2014
“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 of slate

Throwing my slate on deck in a high passion, I left the ship and went ashore.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
They stood at the desk, teacher and scholar, Howard bending over his slate.
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Pansy
Tip was back by the kitchen window now, with his slate and book.
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Pansy
The Ma was at least half the size of the slate, while Heman was microscopic; but, alas!
Meadow Grass
Alice 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

British Dictionary definitions for slate

slate

noun

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

verb (tr)

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

adjective

of the colour slate

Word Origin for slate

C14: from Old French esclate, from esclat a fragment; see slat 1

slate

verb (tr) informal, mainly British

to criticize harshly; censure

to punish or defeat severely

Word Origin for slate

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

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.

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.

slate in Science

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.

Idioms and Phrases with slate

slate

In addition to the idiom beginning with slate

slated for, be

also see:

clean slate