slate
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /sleɪt/
homophone: Sleat
rhymes: -eɪt
Forms: form: slates
form: sclate
Etymology: From Middle English slate, slat, slatte, sclate, sclatte, from Old French esclate, from esclat (French éclat), from Old French esclater (“to break, shatter”), from Frankish *slaitijan (“to split, break”), from Proto-Germanic *slaitijaną, causative of *slītaną (“to cut up, split”). Doublet of éclat.
Senses: examples: text: Some of the minor Welsh 2 ft. gauge railways, we hear from Mr. N. F. G. Dalston, are enjoying a miniature boom owing to the demand for slate for the repair of damaged roofs.
ref: 1941 March, “Notes and News: The Demand for Slate”, in Railway Magazine, page 141:
text: The Penrhyn slate quarry possibly dates back to the sixteenth century, as it appears that in 1580 Sion Tudor asked the Bishop of Bangor for a shipload of slate.
ref: 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:
topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: A fine-grained homogeneous sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash which has been metamorphosed so that it cleaves easily into thin layers.
synonyms: slate blue
slate grey
slate gray
glosses: The bluish-grey colour of most slate.
examples: text: He wrote all down one side of the slate and all up the other, and then remarked--"As there's no time to finish that, The time has come to have our chat."
ref: 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 12:
glosses: A chalkboard, sheet of slate for writing on with chalk or with a thin rod of slate (a slate pencil) formerly commonly used by both students and teachers in schools.
examples: text: In 1765 only 80 men were employed, and the annual output of slates did not exceed 1,000 tons, and large-scale quarrying was not begun by Lord Penrhyn until 1782.
ref: 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:
text: The necessary works were extensive and included replacing missing and damaged slates and other roof repairs (in order to make the building watertight), pointing and drainpipe replacement, and extensive replacement of rotten floorboarding.
ref: 2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Southeastern Commercial Restoration Award: Appledore”, in RAIL, number 946, pages 56–57:
glosses: A roofing-tile made of slate.
examples: text: Put it on my slate – I’ll pay you next week.
synonyms: account
bill
tab
glosses: A record of money owed.
examples: text: Ice is one of a slate of young, idealistic candidates for Move Forward who have joined mainstream politics in the hope that this election allows Thailand to break the cycle of military coups […]
ref: 2023 May 8, Jonathan Head, “Thailand election: The young radicals shaking up politics”, in BBC News (World):
glosses: A list of affiliated candidates for an election.
examples: text: The Chairman James Kaplan tended to his busy slate of record and film projects, while Mia, too, actively sought movie work, somewhat to her husband's chagrin.
ref: 2015 October 29, James Kaplan, Sinatra: The Chairman, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
text: If it sounds like an impossibly busy slate, it turned out to be just that.
ref: 2017 September 22, Douglass K. Daniel, Anne Bancroft: A Life, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN:
glosses: A schedule.
examples: text: Like many independents that have established a strong if narrow niche, Central Park says it prospers when "A" titles are in short supply, but Pascuzzi much prefers a crowded slate because of trickle-down economics.
ref: 1998 July 11, “Sell-Through Survival Guide”, in Billboard, page 55:
text: MVL Film Finance LLC (MVL) was created to partially finance Marvel Studios' production of a slate of 10 live-action or animated films based on up to 10 of Marvel's comic book characters[…]
ref: 2006 October 20, Frank J. Fabozzi, Henry A. Davis, Moorad Choudhry, Introduction to Structured Finance, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 336:
text: This overcrowded blockbuster slate has led to the death of the respectable mid-budget movie, which has arguably migrated to prestige television along with writers, directors and actors.
ref: 2018 October 24, Darren Mooney, Christopher Nolan: A Critical Study of the Films, McFarland, →ISBN, page 86:
topics: broadcasting
film
media
television
glosses: A collection of movie releases in a certain period, either from one studio or Hollywood as a whole.
glosses: An artificial material resembling slate and used for the same purposes.
glosses: A thin plate of any material; a flake.
examples: text: Hearing Steve Ballmer and others talk about the availability of Windows 8 on slates, laptops, netbooks, notebooks, and screens from 7 to 70 inches might lead us to believe that Microsoft is attempting to gain market share solely through […]
ref: 2012, Chris Sells, Brandon Satrom, Don Box, Building Windows 8 Apps with JavaScript:
glosses: A tablet computer.
topics: broadcasting
film
media
television
glosses: A clapperboard.
Derived terms: alum slate
blank slate
chiastolite slate
clay slate
clean slate
Collyweston slate
draw a sponge over the slate
drawing slate
end slate
horn slate
lithographic slate
log slate
magic slate
on the slate
pass a sponge over the slate
polishing slate
slate black
slate blue
slate-coloured junco
slate gray
slate loose
slate pencil
slate purple
slate quarry
slate white
slate writer
slate writing
slaty
tail slate
whet slate
wipe the slate clean
Related terms: basalt
blackboard
chalkboard
whiteboard