- plate
- noun1》 a flat dish, typically circular, from which food is eaten or served.↘N. Amer. a main course of a meal.↘Austral./NZ a plate of food contributed by a guest to a social gathering.2》 any shallow dish, especially one used for collecting donations in a church.↘Biology a shallow glass dish on which a culture may be grown.3》 bowls, cups, and other utensils made of gold or silver.↘a silver or gold dish or trophy awarded as a prize.4》 a thin, flat sheet or strip of metal or other material, typically one used to join or strengthen or forming part of a machine.↘a small, flat piece of metal bearing a name or inscription, designed to be fixed to a wall or door.↘short for number plate.↘Baseball short for home plate.↘a horizontal timber laid along the top of a wall to support the ends of joists or rafters.↘a light horseshoe for a racehorse.5》 Botany & Zoology a thin, flat organic structure or formation: fused bony plates.↘Geology each of the several rigid pieces of the earth's lithosphere which together make up the earth's surface.6》 a sheet of metal or other material bearing an image of type or illustrations from which multiple copies are printed.↘a printed photograph or illustration in a book.↘a thin sheet of metal or glass coated with a light-sensitive film on which an image is formed, used in larger or older types of camera.7》 a thin piece of metal that acts as an electrode in a capacitor, battery, or cell.↘N. Amer. the anode of a thermionic valve.verb1》 cover (a metal object) with a thin coating of a different metal.↘cover with plates of metal for decoration or protection.2》 serve or arrange on a plate.3》 Baseball score or cause to score (a run or runs).4》 Biology inoculate (cells or infective material) on to a culture plate, especially with the object of isolating a particular strain of microorganisms or estimating viable cell numbers.Phraseson a plate informal indicating that something has been achieved with little or no effort.on one's plate chiefly Brit. occupying one's time or energy.Derivativesplateful noun (plural platefuls).plater nounplating nounOriginME: from OFr., from med. L. plata 'plate armour', based on Gk platus 'flat'; sense 1 represents OFr. plat 'platter'.
English new terms dictionary. 2014.