Slate /(slāt)/

Slate

An argillaceous rock which readily splits into thin plates; argillite; argillaceous schist. (Min.)
Any rock or stone having a slaty structure.
A prepared piece of such stone.
An artificial material, resembling slate, and used for the above purposes.
A thin plate of any material; a flake. [Obs.]
A list of candidates, prepared for nomination or for election; a list of candidates, or a programme of action, devised beforehand. (Politics) [Cant, U.S.]

Adhesive slate: a kind of slate of a greenish gray color, which absorbs water rapidly, and adheres to the tongue; whence the name.
Aluminous slate: a kind of slate containing sulphate of alumina, -- used in the manufacture of alum.
Bituminous slate: a soft species of sectile clay slate, impregnated with bitumen.
Hornblende slate: a slaty rock, consisting essentially of hornblende and feldspar, useful for flagging on account of its toughness.
Slate ax: a mattock with an ax end, used in shaping slates for roofs, and making holes in them for the nails.
Slate clay: 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.
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: rocks which split into thin laminae, not necessarily parallel to the stratification; foliated rocks.
Slate spar: 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.

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Slated; p. pr. & vb. n. Slating

To cover with slate, or with a substance resembling slate; as, to slate a roof; to slate a globe.
To register (as on a slate and subject to revision), for an appointment. [Polit. Cant]

v. t.