PLATE


Meaning of PLATE in English

/ pleɪt; NAmE / noun , verb

■ noun

FOOD

1.

[ C ] a flat, usually round, dish that you put food on :

sandwiches on a plate

a pile of dirty plates

dinner plates

2.

[ C ] the amount of food that you can put on a plate :

a plate of sandwiches

two large plates of pasta

—compare plateful

3.

[ C ] ( especially NAmE ) a whole main course of a meal, served on one plate :

Try the seafood plate.

FOR STRENGTH

4.

[ C ] a thin flat piece of metal, used especially to join or make sth stronger :

The tanks were mainly constructed of steel plates.

She had a metal plate inserted in her arm.

FOR INFORMATION

5.

[ C ] a flat piece of metal with some information on it, for example sb's name :

A brass plate beside the door said 'Dr Alan Tate'.

—see also nameplate

ON VEHICLE

6.

[ usually pl. ] the pieces of metal or plastic at the front and back of a vehicle with numbers and letters on it

—see also L-plate , license plate , number plate

SILVER / GOLD

7.

[ U ] ordinary metal that is covered with a thin layer of silver or gold :

The cutlery is plate, not solid silver.

—see also gold plate , silver plate , tinplate

8.

[ U ] dishes, bowls, etc. that are made of silver or gold

ON ANIMAL

9.

[ C ] ( biology ) one of the thin flat pieces of horn or bone that cover and protect an animal :

the armadillo's protective shell of bony plates

GEOLOGY

10.

[ C ] one of the very large pieces of rock that form the earth's surface and move slowly :

the Pacific plate

Earthquakes are caused by two tectonic plates bumping into each other.

—see also plate tectonics

PRINTING / PHOTOGRAPHY

11.

[ C ] a photograph that is used as a picture in a book, especially one that is printed on a separate page on high quality paper :

The book includes 55 colour plates.

See plate 4.

12.

[ C ] a sheet of metal, plastic, etc. that has been treated so that words or pictures can be printed from it :

a printing plate

13.

[ C ] a thin sheet of glass, metal, etc. that is covered with chemicals so that it reacts to light and can form an image, used in larger or older cameras

IN MOUTH

14.

[ C ] a thin piece of plastic that fits inside your mouth, that has artificial teeth attached to it, or wire, etc. to make the teeth straight

—compare brace , dentures

IN BASEBALL

15.

[ sing. ] ( NAmE ) = home plate

IN CHURCH

16.

(usually the plate ) [ sing. ] a flat dish that is used to collect money from people in a church

—see also bookplate , breastplate , footplate , hotplate

IDIOMS

- have enough / a lot / too much on your plate

—more at hand verb

■ verb [ vn ] [ usually passive ]

1.

to cover a metal with a thin layer of another metal, especially gold or silver :

a silver ring plated with gold

—see also gold-plated , silver plate

2.

to cover sth with sheets of metal or another hard substance :

The walls of the vault were plated with steel.

—see also armour-plated

••

WORD ORIGIN

Middle English (denoting a flat, thin sheet, usually of metal): from Old French , from medieval Latin plata plate armour, based on Greek platus flat. Senses 1 to 3 represent Old French plat platter, large dish, also dish of meat, noun use of Old French plat flat.

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.