Library / English Dictionary

SLATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(formerly) a writing tablet made of slate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("slate" is a kind of...):

tablet (a slab of stone or wood suitable for bearing an inscription)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A list of candidates nominated by a political party to run for election to public offices

Synonyms:

slate; ticket

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("slate" is a kind of...):

list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))

Derivation:

slate (enter on a list or slate for an election)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A fine-grained metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("slate" is a kind of...):

sedimentary rock (rock formed from consolidated clay sediments)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Thin layers of rock used for roofing

Synonyms:

slate; slating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("slate" is a kind of...):

roofing material (building material used in constructing roofs)

Derivation:

slate (cover with slate)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Designate or schedule

Example:

She was slated to be his successor

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "slate" is one way to...):

designate; destine; intend; specify (design or destine)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with slate

Example:

slate the roof

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "slate" is one way to...):

roof (provide a building with a roof; cover a building with a roof)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

slate (thin layers of rock used for roofing)

slating (the act of laying slates for a roof)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Enter on a list or slate for an election

Example:

He was slated for borough president

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "slate" is one way to...):

cross-file; register (have one's name listed as a candidate for several parties)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

slate (a list of candidates nominated by a political party to run for election to public offices)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The XS-1 is still years away from reality, with DARPA saying testing the plane’s engines on the ground slated for 2019.

(Hypersonic Space Plane May Soon Be a Reality, VOA)

Gold, cream, and honey are the most popular colors, but the coat also comes in smoke, dark-grizzle, slate and a multi-color assortment of brown, white and black.

(Lhasa Apso, NCI Thesaurus)

I have heard, also, that he was slated for the head of the English department, only the affair happened and he resigned and went away.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The amber piece already was slated to become jewelry, as it also contains well preserved plant material.

(Dinosaur Tail Found in Myanmar, VOA News)

It has a short, sleek coat in solid gray, slate gray, cream, red, fawn, black, or blue - often broken up with white markings on the chest and feet, or white with color markings.

(Italian Greyhound, NCI Thesaurus)

Hence, ladies and gentlemen, he added, that frightful brood of saurians which still affright our eyes when seen in the Wealden or in the Solenhofen slates, but which were fortunately extinct long before the first appearance of mankind upon this planet.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A rainy night had been followed by a glorious morning, and the heath-covered countryside, with the glowing clumps of flowering gorse, seemed all the more beautiful to eyes which were weary of the duns and drabs and slate greys of London.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This all sounds dreary, but you’ll feel good after you have wiped your slate clean.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

At once the cap changed to a slate, on which was written in big, white chalk marks: LET DOROTHY GO TO THE CITY OF EMERALDS

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

‘Never!’ he wrote in Greek upon the slate.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)