I. ˈslāt, usu -ād.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slate, sclate, from Middle French esclate, from Old French, feminine of esclat fragment, splinter — more at é clat
1.
a. : a thin flat slab, piece, or layer of laminated rock (as slate) ; sometimes : bone I 8b
b. : a piece of slate or other construction material prepared in the shape of a shingle and used especially for roofing and siding : tile , shingle
roofing slates
roofs are covered with asbestos cement slates — H.M.Dunnett
roofing slate is manufactured by a hand method and by a mill method — J.H.Bateman
2. : a dense fine-grained rock produced by the compression of clays, shales, and various other rocks that develops a characteristic cleavage which may be at any angle with the original bedding plane and consisting essentially of sericite and quartz with biotite, chlorite, and hematite as principal accessories ; also : a cleavable rock that resembles slate
3.
a. : a tablet of slate or slatelike material used especially by children for writing on usually with chalk
b. : a tablet usually of slate bearing take and scene numbers, date, director's name, or similar identifying data and photographed at the beginning or end of a movie take — compare slapstick 1b(2)
c. Britain : a slate on which a compositor in a piecework shop writes his name when he runs out of copy to set
d. : a hand instrument for writing braille consisting of a metal plate pitted with the six points of the braille cell and another metal plate above it with openings through which a stylus is pressed down into the pits one at a time to emboss points in desired position on paper placed between the two plates — called also braille slate
4.
a. : a written or unwritten record of deeds or events
leaving evaluation of the rest of the … slate to history — New Republic
wiped the slate clean of past mistakes — R.G.Woolbert
b.
(1) : a list prepared in advance of candidates for appointment, nomination, or election (as to political or corporation office)
the 10,000 names needed to put an independent slate on the ballot — H.H.Martin
the committee presents one slate to be voted upon at the annual … meeting — Saturday Review
(2) : the group of persons proposed for appointment, nomination, or election
install a new slate of officers for the coming year — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News
c. : a list of entrants in a horse race with the betting odds offered posted by a bookmaker
d. : a schedule of sports events
the thirteen-game slate includes home-and-home contests — N.Y.Times
5.
a. : a dark purplish gray that is bluer and deeper than pigeon, redder, lighter, and stronger than charcoal, and bluer and darker than taupe gray
b. : any of various grays similar in color to common roofing slates
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- clean slate
- have a slate loose
- on the slate
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English sclate, from sclate, n., slate
1. : made of slate
a slate roof
2. : of the color slate : slate-colored
a slate dress
3. : containing slate
an Ordovician slate belt
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: slate (I)
transitive verb
1. : to cover with slate or a slatelike substance
slate a house
the roof was slated instead of being thatched — C.K.Finlay
2.
a. : to register or record the name of (a person or event) on a slate or in a schedule
the party slated its candidates
slate the game
b. : to schedule for or to schedule to occur or materialize at a specified time or in a specified place
conclave is slated Sunday through next Thursday — Sacramento (Calif.) Bee
elections slated in Japan next Sunday — Newsweek
— usually used with for
market had been slated for January 24-28 — Retailing Daily
elections slated for July 1-2 — R.J.Kerner
new ammonia plant is slated for the Midwest — Wall Street Journal
thunderstorms are slated for the northern Appalachians — New Orleans (La.) Times-Picayune
c. : to designate (a person or thing) for a specified function or purpose : act or be acted upon in a specified way at some time in the future : schedule , appoint
slated for a prominent role in these plans — Printers' Ink
who had been slated to start the game — Roscoe McGowen
bill S246 slated for passage — W.A.Wittich
work is slated to start shortly — P.S.Nathan
slated to be converted into a … hospital — E.J.Kahn
d. : destine , predestine , foreordain
everything is … slated to fulfill a rational end — Harry Bear
by aptitude, personality, and work he is obviously slated to go up — E.J.Fitzgerald
3. : to flesh (hides) with a slater
intransitive verb
1. : to make slates
2. : to lay slates
3. : to flesh hides with a slater
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English slaiten, irregular from or akin to Old English slǣtan to bait; akin to Old High German sleizen to split, Old English slītan to slit, tear — more at slit
dialect Britain : to set a dog on : hound
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: probably alteration of slat (IV)
1. : to thrash or pummel severely
2. chiefly Britain : to criticize or censure severely : berate
slated him years later for having a part in the vilification — W.T.Scott
severely slated for his pedantry, literary arrogance — R.G.Howarth