noun
shale
shayl
noun
1
A soft, fine-grained sedimentary rock that splits easily into thin layers.
"The cliff face was made of crumbling grey shale."
2
Refers to the shale oil and gas industry.
"The state's economy boomed thanks to shale."
How to Use Shale
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA layered rock that splits easily, or, in energy terms, the industry built around extracting oil and gas from it.
Common pairings
shale rock
shale gas
shale oil
Word Forms
shaled past tense, shales plural, shales singular
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The cliff face was made of crumbling grey _____.
Etymology
From Old English scealu ("shell, husk"), related to "shell" and a doublet of "scale".