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
They spent the remainder of the afternoon in estimating the amount of the damage, and they continued the inquiry on the following day with the assistance of the carpenter, the mason, and the slater.
From Bouvard and Pécuchet A Tragi-comic Novel of Bourgeois Life by Flaubert, Gustave
A slater on the slope of a neighbouring roof eyed me curiously.
From Lay Morals by Stevenson, Robert Louis
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
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.
