noun
plate
PLAYT
noun
1
A flat, shallow dish used for serving or eating food.
"She set a clean plate in front of each guest."
"He piled his plate high at the buffet."
2
A rigid piece of metal, glass, or other material with a flat, uniform shape.
"The safe's door is protected by a thick steel plate."
3
A vehicle's license plate.
"Police ran the car's plate through the database."
4
One of the large rigid sections of the Earth's crust that move over time; a tectonic plate.
"The earthquake occurred along the boundary of two tectonic plates."
verb
1
To coat the surface of an object with a thin layer of another metal.
"The jewelry is plated with gold rather than solid gold."
How to Use Plate
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA flat dish for food; more broadly, any flat rigid piece, including license plates and tectonic plates.
Common pairings
dinner plate
license plate
gold-plated
tectonic plate
have a lot on your plate
Word Forms
plated past tense, plates plural, plates plural, plates plural, plates singular
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Etymology
From Old French plate, ultimately from Greek platys, "broad, flat." The slang sense meaning "foot" comes from Cockney rhyming slang, "plates of meat" for "feet."