Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fine-grained metamorphic rock that splits into thin, smooth-surfaced layers.
- n. A piece of this rock cut for use as roofing or surfacing material or as a writing surface.
- n. A writing tablet made of a similar material.
- n. A record of past performance or activity: start over with a clean slate.
- n. A list of the candidates of a political party running for various offices.
- n. A dark or bluish gray to dark bluish or dark purplish gray.
- adj. Made of a fine-grained metamorphic rock: a slate roof.
- adj. Of the color slate.
- v. To cover (a roof, for example) with slate.
- v. To put on a list of candidates.
- v. To schedule or designate: Our professor has slated the art history lecture for Thursday afternoon; was slated to direct the studio's next film.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To bait; set a dog loose at.
- To haul over the coals; take to task harshly or rudely; berate; abuse; scold; hold up to ridicule; criticize severely: as, the work was slated in the reviews.
- n. A thin, flat stone or piece of stone; a thin plate or flake. See slat, 1.
- n. Especially A piece or plate of the stone hence called slate. (See def. 3.) Specifically— A plate of slate used for covering in or roofing buildings; a tile of slate.
- n. A rock the most striking characteristic of which is its fissile structure, or capability of being easily split or cleft into thin plates of nearly uniform thickness and smooth surfaces. The rocks in which a flssile structure is particularly well developed are almost exclusively the argillaceous, and those which have been more or less metamorphosed, and this flssility appears to be the result of the rearrangement of the particles of the rock into new combinations flattened into thin scales which lie in a direction at right angles to the direction in which the rock was pressed at the time the metamorphism was taking place. The bestknown variety of slate is the common roofing-slate, which is compact, homogeneous, and fissile enough to be used for covering roofs, or for manufacture into tables, chimney-pieces, writing-slates, etc. The valuable varieties of roofing-slate come almost exclusively from the older metamorphic rocks.
- n. A preliminary list of candidates prepared by party managers for acceptance by a nominating caucus or convention: so called as being written down, as it were on a slate, and altered or erased like a school-boy's writing.
- n. (which see, under chalk).
- Of the color of slate; slate-colored; of a dark, slightly bluish-gray color of medium luminosity.
- To cover with slate or plates of stone: as, to slate a roof.
- To enter as on a slate; suggest or propose as a candidate by entering the name on the slate or ticket: as, A. B. is already slated for the mayoralty. See I., 4.
- In tanning, to cleanse from hairs, etc., with a slater. See slater, 3.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable A fine-grained homogeneous sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash which has been metamorphosed so that it cleaves easily into thin layers.
- n. uncountable The bluish-grey colour of most slate.
- n. countable A sheet of slate for writing on with chalk.
- n. countable A tile made of slate.
- n. countable A record of money owed.
- n. countable A list of affiliated candidates for an election.
- adj. Having the bluish-grey/gray colour/color of slate.
- v. To cover with slate.
- v. chiefly UK To criticise harshly.
- v. To schedule.
- v. To destine or strongly expect.
- v. To punish severely.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Min.) An argillaceous rock which readily splits into thin plates; argillite; argillaceous schist.
- n. Any rock or stone having a slaty structure.
- n. A prepared piece of such stone.
- n. A thin, flat piece, for roofing or covering houses, etc.
- n. A tablet for writing upon.
- n. An artificial material, resembling slate, and used for the above purposes.
- n. obsolete A thin plate of any material; a flake.
- n. (Politics), Cant, U.S. A list of candidates, prepared for nomination or for election; a list of candidates, or a programme of action, devised beforehand.
- v. To cover with slate, or with a substance resembling slate
- v. Polit. Cant To register (as on a slate and subject to revision), for an appointment.
- v. Prov. Eng. & Scot. To set a dog upon; to bait; to slat. See 2d slat, 3.
WordNet 3.0
- v. cover with slate
- n. thin layers of rock used for roofing
- n. (formerly) a writing tablet made of slate
- v. designate or schedule
- n. a fine-grained metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers
- v. enter on a list or slate for an election
- n. a list of candidates nominated by a political party to run for election to public offices
Etymologies
- From Old French esclate (French éclat). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English sclate, from Old French esclate, splinter, feminine of esclat; see slat. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It's one of the few times we've heard the term slate used since Ballmer briefly showed off”
“It seems that the term slate is being used more because Apple is rumored to be announcing the iSlate later this month.”
“The second quarter really we have the title slate to be able to do very well in the second quarter assuming that we are able to get back on track with full shelves of both rental and retail.”
“Are you seeing anything within the store to suggest that once the title slate improves you will actually benefit from that kind of a trend?”
“My first few novels, including The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, are fantasy — but the next project on my slate is a YA cyberpunk novel.”
“Headlining the slate is the renewal of acquaintances between No. 5 Florida and in-state rival Miami.”
“Your choices are very limited: Choose your clips, order them any way you want, choose to add a title slate for the beginning and/or a credit slate for the end and then choose your musical accompaniment if so desired.”
“Second on the slate is the remake of the classic The Seven Samurai ... unbelievably it seems to be going ahead.”
“Drawing figures on a slate is a favorite amusement with children; and it may prove a very useful one, if pains are taken to point out errors, and induce them to make correct imitations.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘slate’.
-
Artistic words
Good for poetry, or just artistic on their own.
fluxus, gallant, kinetic, lurk, disengage, mist, agleam, voyeur, devoid, crimson, ebony, azure and 94 more...
-
IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
-
Uncommon Colours
azure, myrtle, periwinkle, viridian, jade, emerald, lime, chartreuse, asparagus, celadon, harlequin, olive and 147 more...
-
From reading
Collected from reading
venerate, reprobate, reticent, adoration, ethereal, ephemeral, equivocal, contumacious, heinous, solicitous, agnostic, aberration and 335 more...
-
POL - elections
absentee ballot, affiliate, allegiance, announcement of c..., ballot, ballot box, ballot initiatives, ballot paper, barnstorming speech, bias, block vote, campaign ad and 930 more...
-
phrontistery-s
from phrontistery.info
sabaton, sabbatarian, sabbulonarium, sabelline, sabin, sable, sabliere, sabot, sabretache, sabulous, saburration, saccade and 1593 more...
-
common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
-
Words descriptive of the colour of th...
sloe, hyaline, dull, turquoise, slate, snotgreen, ultramarine, glaucous, murky, ashen, wine-dark, claret and 32 more...
-
intueri's Words
inveigle, dolorous, archly, feckless, resplendent, concatenation, peripatetic, delightful, cookie, fey, ephemeral, effervescent and 347 more...
-
ash vocab
flippant, fillip, expiate, explicate, extirpate, facile, florid, fealty, allegiance, fetid, febrile, pert and 134 more...
-
Colors
Words for colors, including things so associated with a color that they can be used in reference to a color.
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, purple, navy, lavender, turquoise, chartreuse and 218 more...
-
strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
-
color me mauve
color words
albescent, ecru, eggshell, mauve, taupe, ochre, ashen, goldenrod, gamboge, cream, saffron, mustard and 109 more...
-
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
-
colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
-
If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-...
Words that have been used as baby names, including virtue names, nature names, place names, etc.
The title is an actual name given to a Puritan boy in the 17th century.faith, hope, grace, charity, chastity, prudence, patience, temperance, river, phoenix, stone, violet and 455 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for slate.

thesaraheffect A lovely sounding word. Sep 18, 2009
chained_bear kewpid, are you inside my brain? I just posted a link to a Slate article. *weirds* Oct 22, 2008
kewpid An excellent source of news and current affairs. Oct 22, 2008
vanishedone Is formerly perhaps a WeirdNet way of saying obsolete or archaic? Surely a writing slate still is a slate; it's just that nobody uses one anymore. Oct 22, 2008