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plate1
—plateless, adj. —platelike, adj.n.1. a shallow, usually circular dish, often of earthenware or porcelain, from which food is eaten.2. the contents of such a dish; plateful.3. an entire course of a meal served on such a dish: I had the vegetable plate for lunch.4. the food and service for one person, as at a banquet, fund-raising dinner, or the like: The wedding breakfast cost $20 a plate.5. household dishes, utensils, etc., of metal plated with gold or silver.6. household dishes, utensils, etc., made of gold or silver.7. a dish, as of metal or wood, used for collecting offerings, as in a church.8. a thin, flat sheet or piece of metal or other material, esp. of uniform thickness.9. metal in such sheets.10. a flat, polished piece of metal on which something may be or is engraved.11. See license plate.12. a flat or curved sheet of metal, plastic, glass, or similar hard material, on which a picture or text has been engraved, etched, molded, photographically developed, or drawn, that is inked, as in a press, for printing impressions on other surfaces.13. a printed impression from such a piece or from some similar piece, as a woodcut.14. a full-page illustration in a book, esp. an insert on paper different from the text pages.15. a piece of armor made from a thin, flat piece or several such pieces of tough material, esp. wrought iron or steel.16. armor composed of thin, flat pieces; plate armor.17. Dentistry.a. the part of a denture that conforms to the mouth and contains the teeth.b. the entire denture.18. Baseball.b. rubber1 (def. 14).19. See plate glass.20. Photog. a sheet of glass, metal, etc., coated with a sensitized emulsion, used for taking a photograph.21. Anat., Zool. a platelike part, structure, or organ.22. a thin piece or cut of beef from the lower end of the ribs. See diag. under beef.23. Geol. See crustal plate.24. Electronics. one of the interior elements of a vacuum tube, toward which electrons are attracted by virtue of its positive charge; anode. Abbr.: P25. Carpentry. any of various horizontal timbers or boards laid flat across the heads of studding, upon floors, etc., to support joists, rafters, or studs at or near their ends.26. a gold or silver cup or the like awarded as the prize in a horse race or some other contest.27. a horse race or some other contest for such a prize.28. Heraldry. a rounded argent.29. have on one's plate, Informal. to have as an immediate task, obligation, or prospect: I had too much on my plate already to take on another task.v.t.30. to coat (metal) with a thin film of gold, silver, nickel, etc., by mechanical or chemical means.31. to cover or overlay with metal plates for protection.32. Metalworking.a. to forge (a bloom or the like) into a broad piece.b. to hammer (cutlery) gently to produce an even surface.33. Print. to make a stereotype or electrotype plate from (type).34. Papermaking. to give a high gloss to (paper), as on supercalendered paper.[1250-1300; ME < OF: lit., something flat, n. use of fem. of plat FLAT1 < VL *plattus, akin to Gk platýs broad, flat]plate2/playt/, n. Obs.a coin, esp. of silver.[1200-50; ME < OF; special use of plate PLATE1]
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Universalium. 2010.