Plate Meaning
/ˈpleɪ̯t/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA slightly curved but almost flat dish from which food is served or eaten.
nounSuch dishes collectively.
Sentence Examples
The waiter brought a new plate.
He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough.
Be careful not to drop that plate.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
She put the spaghetti on a large flat white ____ and ate it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The geologist explained that the movement of tectonic ____ causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English plate, from Old French plate, from Medieval Latin plata, from Vulgar Latin *plat(t)us, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat, wide”). Compare Spanish plato. (foot): Cockney rhyming slang, from "plates of meat" for "feet".
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He hewd, and lasht, and foynd, and thondred blowes,
And euery way did seeke into his life,
Ne plate, ne male could ward so mighty throwes,
But yeilded passage to his cruell knife."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 248:
"Two potent Thrones, that to be less then Gods
Disdain’d, but meaner thoughts learnd in thir flight,
Mangl’d with gastly wounds through Plate and Maile."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 366-368:
"The silver ore of pure Charity is an expensive article in the catalogue of a man's good Qualities—whereas the sentimental French Plate I use instead of it makes just as good a shew—and pays no tax."
— 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.i:
""Do you really mean me to go on with plates for all the high values up to the thousand pound printing?""
— 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
"Our planet's crust is split into eight major plates and many minor plates."
— 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She put the spaghetti on a large flat white ____ and ate it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The geologist explained that the movement of tectonic ____ causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.