| slate | 1. To cover with slate, or with a substance resembling slate; as, to slate a roof; to slate a globe. 2. To register (as on a slate and subject to revision), for an appointment. Origin: Slated; Slating. 1. <chemical> An argillaceous rock which readily splits into thin plates; argillite; argillaceous schist. 2. Any rock or stone having a slaty structure. 3. A prepared piece of such stone. Especially: A thin, flat piece, for roofing or covering houses, etc. A tablet for writing upon. 4. An artificial material, resembling slate, and used for the above purposes. 5. A thin plate of any material; a flake. 6. A list of candidates, prepared for nomination or for election; a list of candidates, or a programme of action, devised beforehand. Adhesive slate, a variety of calcite of silvery white luster and of a slaty structure. Transparent slate, a plate of translucent material, as ground glass, upon which a copy of a picture, placed beneath it, can be made by tracing. Origin: OE. Slat, OF. Esclat a shiver, splinter, F. Eclat, fr. OF. Esclater to shiver, to chip, F. Eclater, fr. OHG. Sliezen to tear, slit, split, fr. Slizan to slit, G. Schleissen. See Slit, and cf. Eclat. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| slater | <zoology> Any terrestrial isopod crustacean of the genus Porcellio and allied genera; a sow bug. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |