I. ˈslat, usu -ad.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slat, sclat, from Middle French esclat fragment, splinter, from Old French — more at é clat
1. chiefly dialect : a piece of slate : slate
2. : a thin narrow flat strip especially of wood or metal: as
a. : lath
b. : louver
c. : stave
d. : a piece of wood about the length and half the diameter of a pencil that has been planed and grooved preparatory to receiving the lead in pencil manufacturing
e. : one of the thin flat members in the back of a slat-back chair
3. : a sheepskin from which all or most of the wool has been removed and which has been air dried to preserve it for tanning
4. slats plural , slang
a. : buttocks
b. : ribs
5. : an auxiliary airfoil at the leading edge of the wing of an airplane that is normally closed to form part of the regular contour of the wing but that may be opened to form a slot when flight conditions require it
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English sclat, from sclat, n., slat
: having or made of slats
the slat seat of the garden swing — Saul Bellow
protected from the sun by slat roofs — American Guide Series: Florida
III. transitive verb
( slatted ; slatted ; slatting ; slats )
Etymology: Middle English slatten, from slat, sclat, n., slat
1.
a. : to make or equip with slats
small slatted houses over tombs — American Guide Series: Louisiana
b. : to stripe or bar as if with slats
a single spread of green slatted with watercourses — Sheila Kaye-Smith
2. : to close the slats of
slat the Venetian blinds against the blaze of noon — Christopher Morley
IV. verb
( slatted ; slatted ; slatting ; slats )
Etymology: probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse sletta to slap, splash, throw, sletta to slide — more at slant
transitive verb
1. dialect England : to hurl or throw smartly against something else : toss or cast with force and vehemence
2. dialect England : strike , beat , pummel
intransitive verb
1. : to flap violently
sails that slat and belly in the wind — Hamilton Basso
2. : to move with a motion or sound like that of a violently flapping sail
the calms, with their exasperating rolling and slatting — W.H.Taylor
rain … came in gusts, slatting and spattering against the rocky slopes — B.A.Williams
boxcars slatting past at fifty miles an hour — Thomas Wolfe
V. transitive verb
Etymology: obsolete French esclater (now éclater ), from Old French, to splinter, burst — more at é clat
dialect England : split , crack
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Irish Gaelic
Britain : kelt I