a person trained in laying roof slates
dialect a woodlouse See also sea slater
First recorded in 1375–1425, slater is from the late Middle English word sclater. See slate 1, -er 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Louise recounts a slater called John McWilliam, who fled to Stranraer after being accused of witchcraft for a second time, before going on trial in Edinburgh.
From BBC • Oct. 30, 2025
He promised an updated list, but more than six month slater, it has yet to appear.
From BBC • May 26, 2025
He often got into scrapes; but he declared that, like a hedgehog or slater, or woodlouse, he always managed to roll himself out of them.
From Ben Burton Born and Bred at Sea by Webb, Archibald
A slater on the slope of a neighbouring roof eyed me curiously.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XXII (of 25) Juvenilia and Other Papers by Stevenson, Robert Louis
It is flat, black, hard, and shiny, and resembles a cross between the English black-beetle and the woodlouse or slater.
From Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) or Settler and Maori in Northern New Zealand by Hay, William Delisle
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.
