plate

Pluralplates

Formsplates, plating, plated

1. 1
   dishnouncountable

   A shallow, slightly curved dish from which food is served or eaten.

   The waiter set a steaming plate in front of each guest.

   Stack the clean plates in the cupboard once they dry.

   UsageFood is on a plate; dish is the wider word, also covering bowls and serving vessels.

   Similardish

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A serving of food on a plate, eaten as a meal or as part of one.

   After the long hike, he cleared his entire plate without pausing.

   The toddler ate about half his plate and slipped the rest to the dog.

   UsageA plate of something, or finish or clear your plate.

   Similarplateful, helping, serving, portion

3. 3
   car numbernounmetonymicallycountableplural

   The identifying sign fixed to a vehicle, stamped with the registration number assigned by the authorities.

   A witness memorized the plate as the car sped away.

   Several cars had muddy plates that were impossible to read.

   UsageOften the plates, for the pair: change the plates, false plates; also license plate or number plate.

   Similartag, registration

   Note

   The object stands in for what it displays, so a thief changes the plates rather than the number. Australian speech has its own clipped form, rego plates, from rego for registration. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Rego plates is an Australian term for vehicle number plates. en.wiktionary.org
   • Rego derives from registration. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   home base (baseball)nouncountable

   In baseball, the five-sided slab marking where the batter stands and which a runner must touch to score a run.

   The catcher blocked the plate as the runner barreled in from third.

   With two outs, the cleanup hitter approached the plate.

   UsageUsually the plate: step up to the plate, a close play at the plate.

   Similarhome

   Note

   Whatever happens at the plate happens where the batter stands and where runs are scored. The same spot gives the game its verb for scoring. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The batter stands beside home plate. mlb.com
   • Runs are scored by legally advancing through the bases and touching home plate. static.wbsc.org
   • Plate also functions as a baseball verb meaning to score a run. en.wikipedia.org
5. 5
   sheet (lab)nouncountable

   A flat, thin piece of hard material of even thickness, such as metal, glass, or plastic, especially a coated sheet used in laboratory work.

   In thin-layer chromatography, samples migrate up a coated plate.

   The workshop cut a plate of clear plastic to protect the old map.

   Similarsheet, slide

   Note

   Laboratory plates are flat supports for work done on their surface. In thin-layer chromatography, for example, samples climb a coated glass or plastic plate. The coating does the real work, so chemists usually care more about what a plate is coated with than about the glass or plastic underneath. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Plates in the laboratory sense under discussion provide sheetlike supports for surface work. en.wikipedia.org
   • Thin-layer chromatography uses coated glass or plastic plates. columbia.edu
   • The developing solvent carries sample components upward along the plate. websites.umich.edu
   • The coating actively interacts with sample components during separation. amherst.edu
6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To coat the surface of an object with a thin layer of another material, usually a metal.

   The jeweler plated the brass pendant with a thin film of silver.

   Factories often plate steel bolts with zinc to stop rust.

   UsageMostly as a participle: plated with gold, or before a noun as gold-plated, chrome-plated.

   Similarcoat, cover, overlay

   Note

   A gold-plated ring is coated, not solid. That distinction is the whole point of the word. The coating is often laid down by electroplating, in which an electric current deposits the metal onto the object.

7. 7
   earth crustnouncountable

   One of the large, rigid sections of the Earth's outer shell that move slowly over the mantle.

   The Pacific plate grinds northwest against its neighbors along the fault.

   Where one plate dives beneath another, deep ocean trenches form.

   Note

   Geology counts these pieces. Chinle Miller's In Mesozoic Lands (2012) splits the crust into "eight major plates and many minor plates." The word names the pieces of the shell, and the theory of how they move is plate tectonics. Where two plates meet is a plate boundary, and that is where trenches and faults form. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • In Mesozoic Lands is attributed to Chinle Miller and contains the quoted count of major and minor plates. en.wiktionary.org
   • Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's outer shell. nps.gov
   • The theory describing plate movement is called plate tectonics. noaa.gov
   • Where two plates meet is called a plate boundary. oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
   • Trenches and faults form at plate boundaries. oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
8. 8
   workloadnounfiguratively

   The full set of tasks, problems, or responsibilities a person has to handle.

   Like a serving plate so loaded that one more spoonful would spill over the edge.

   He turned down the project because his plate was overflowing already.

   Between exams and her part-time job, there's plenty on her plate this month.

   UsageMostly in on your plate and a full plate: she has a lot on her plate.

   Similarworkload, schedule, agenda

9. 9
   arrange foodverbtransitive

   To arrange the various components of a dish on a plate before it is served.

   He plated the fish over a bed of greens with a swirl of sauce.

   Line cooks must plate dozens of orders during the dinner rush.

   Similararrange, present, serve, dish

   Note

   Kitchen language for the last step before service: once a dish is cooked, the chef plates it, arranging rather than simply serving. The verb has left the restaurant, too. Drake's "HYFR" (2011) has a takeout order where the staff are told to skip the plating. Food photographers use it for the same careful arrangement done for the camera.

10. 10
    metal finishnouncountable or uncountable

    A surface layer of one material covering another, usually named by the material used, as in gold plate.

    The trophy's gold plate began to flake after a few years.

    Over the years, the chrome plate on the old bumper began to flake and rust.

    Similarcoating, layer, veneer, coat

11. 11
    printing surfacenouncountable

    A sheet of metal, plastic, or other material with a prepared surface from which text or images are printed.

    The engraver cut fine lines into the copper plate for the illustration.

    Printers wiped excess ink from the plate before each impression.

    Note

    The printer's plate is where the image waits before it reaches paper: on an engraved plate, lines cut into metal, then inked, wiped and pressed. Making the plates is a stage of production in its own right. The word stretches easily from the surface to what comes off it, which is how a book illustration came to be called a plate as well.

12. 12
    nouncountable

    A picture printed from an engraved or photographic plate, especially a full-page illustration in a book, often on different paper from the text.

    The art monograph reproduces each painting as a full-page plate.

    Early editions included steel-engraved plates protected by tissue guards.

    Similarillustration, print

    Note

    Because it is printed on its own paper, a plate is handled as a separate unit of the book. Collectors check that every plate is present, and old editions protect them with tissue guards. The name carries over from the printing surface such pictures were printed from: a picture pulled from a plate became a plate itself. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Book plates are printed separately from the text and treated as separate components. cool.culturalheritage.org
    • Collectors check that a book's illustrations are complete. aba.org.uk
    • Older books used tissue guards to protect plates. en.wikipedia.org
    • The illustration sense of 'plate' developed from the printing surface used to produce the image. ctan.math.utah.edu
13. 13
    electrical partnouncountable

    A flat electrode, such as those found in a storage battery or an electrolysis tank.

    Sulfation builds up on the plate when a lead-acid battery sits discharged.

    Technicians replaced the corroded plates in the electrolysis cell.

    Similarelectrode

    Note

    In a lead-acid storage battery the plates come in alternating sets, positive and negative, standing in the electrolyte. Much battery trouble is described as plate trouble: sulfated plates, corroded plates. Electrolysis uses the same word for its flat electrodes. When the direction of current matters, anode and cathode are the precise terms. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • This describes a conventional flooded lead-acid storage battery, rather than storage batteries generally. Other rechargeable batteries can contain wound electrode sheets. jeol.com
    • Plate sulfation and corrosion cause battery problems. batteryuniversity.com
    • Electrolysis can employ flat electrodes called plates. stacks.cdc.gov
    • Anode and cathode distinguish electrodes according to the direction of current flow. degruyterbrill.com

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