Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Slate

Slate (slāt), n. [OE. slat, OF. esclat a shiver, splinter, F. éclat, fr. OF. esclater to shiver, to chip, F. éclater, fr. OHG. sliezen to tear, slit, split, fr. slīzan to slit, G. schleissen. See Slit, v. t., and cf. Eclat.] 1. (Min.) 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) A thin, flat piece, for roofing or covering houses, etc. (b) 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. [Obs.]

6. (Politics) A list of candidates, prepared for nomination or for election; a list of candidates, or a programme of action, devised beforehand. [Cant, U.S.] Bartlett.

Adhesive slate (Min.), a kind of slate of a greenish gray color, which absorbs water rapidly, and adheres to the tongue; whence the name. — Aluminous slate, or Alum slate (Min.), a kind of slate containing sulphate of alumina, — used in the manufacture of alum. — Bituminous slate (Min.), a soft species of sectile clay slate, impregnated with bitumen. — Hornblende slate (Min.), a slaty rock, consisting essentially of hornblende and feldspar, useful for flagging on account of its toughness. — Slate ax or axe, a mattock with an ax end, used in shaping slates for roofs, and making holes in them for the nails. — Slate clay (Geol.), an indurated clay, forming one of the alternating beds of the coal measures, consisting of an infusible compound of alumina and silica, and often used for making fire bricks. Tomlinson. — Slate globe, a globe the surface of which is made of an artificial slatelike material. — Slate pencil, a pencil of slate, or of soapstone, used for writing on a slate. — Slate rocks (Min.), rocks which split into thin laminæ, not necessarily parallel to the stratification; foliated rocks. — Slate spar (Min.), 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.

Slate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slated; p. pr. & vb. n. Slating.] 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. [Polit. Cant]

Slate, v. t. [Cf. AS. slǣting a privilege of hunting.] To set a dog upon; to bait; to slat. See 2d Slat, 3. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] [Written also slete.] Ray.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.