|
| slate [ slayt ] |
noun (plural slates) |
|
| Definition: |
| |
1. layered rock: a fine-grained metamorphic rock that splits easily into layers and is widely used as a roofing material
|
2. roofing tile: a roofing tile made of slate
|
3. writing tablet: a small square piece of slate formerly used for writing on, especially by school students. It could be wiped clean and reused indefinitely.
|
4. identifying board on movie set: a board used on a movie set to give information identifying something such as the number of the scene being shot
|
5. dark gray: a dark gray color
|
6. politics list of candidates: a list of the candidates in an election
|
transitive verb (past and past participle slat·ed, present participle slat·ing, 3rd person present singular slates) |
|
| Definition: |
| |
1. tile roof with slate: to cover a roof with tiles made of slate
|
2. politics include somebody in list of candidates: to put somebody's name on a list of candidates for election
|
3. designate somebody: to choose or schedule somebody or something for a particular job or time
  You've been slated to be our next director.
The satellite is slated for launch in December.
|
4. U.K. subject somebody to harsh criticism: to criticize somebody or something severely
(
informal
)
His last play was slated by the critics.
|
| [14th century. < Old French esclate, feminine of esclat "splinter, piece broken off"] |
|
| slate adjective |
| slat·y adjective |
|
|
a clean slate an imaginary record of somebody's past, with no bad marks recorded on it or with all previous bad marks forgotten (informal)
|
wipe the slate clean to forget about what has happened and make a fresh start (informal)
|
