plate
[noun]
Synonyms:
- platter, dish, trencher (archaic)
- helping, course, dish, portion, serving
- layer, panel, sheet, slab
- illustration, lithograph, print
[verb]
Synonyms:
- coat, cover, gild, laminate, overlay

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. plate¹ S2 W2 /pleɪt/ noun
[Sense 1,3,7: Date: 1400-1500; Language: French; Origin: plat 'plate, dish', from plat 'flat', from Vulgar Latin plattus, probably from Greek platys 'broad, flat']
[Sense 2, 4-5,8-11: Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: plat 'flat']
[Sense 6: Date: 1300-1400; Origin: Partly from Old French plat 'plate, piece of silver', partly from Old Spanish plata 'silver']

1. FOOD [countable]
a) a flat and usually round dish that you eat from or serve food on:
The plates were piled high with rice.
a dinner plate
b) (also plateful) the amount of food that is on a plate
plate of
He’s eaten a whole plate of french fries.
► Do not use plate when you mean ‘food cooked in a particular way as a meal’. Use dish: the chef who created this dish (NOT this plate)

2. SIGN [countable] a flat piece of metal with words or numbers on it, for example on a door or a car:
The brass plate on the door said ‘Dr Rackman’.
number/license/registration plate (=on a car)
Did anyone see the car’s license plate? ⇒ L-plate, nameplate

3. have a lot/enough on your plate informal to have a lot of problems to deal with or problems to worry about

4. PROTECTIVE COVERING [countable]
a) technical one of the thin sheets of bone, horn etc that covers and protects the outside of some animals
b) a thin sheet of metal used to protect something
metal/steel/iron plates
The shoes had metal plates attached to the heels.

5. EARTH’S SURFACE [countable] technical one of the very large sheets of rock that form the surface of the Earth ⇒ plate tectonics

6. GOLD/SILVER
a) gold/silver plate ordinary metal with a thin covering of gold or silver
b) [uncountable] things such as plates, cups, forks, or knives made of gold or silver

7. hand/give/offer somebody something on a plate to let someone get or achieve something easily, without much effort from them:
I worked hard for what I’ve got. It wasn’t handed to me on a plate.

8. PICTURES/PHOTOS [countable]
a) a sheet of metal that has been cut or treated in a special way so that words or pictures can be printed from its surface:
copper printing plates
b) a picture in a book, printed on good-quality paper and usually coloured
c) a thin sheet of glass used especially in the past in photography, with chemicals on it that are sensitive to light

9. BASEBALL [countable usually singular] the place where the person hitting the ball stands

10. COMPETITION the ... Plate used in the names of sports competitions or races in which the winner gets a silver plate:
This horse won the Galway Plate.

11. TEETH [countable]
a) a thin piece of plastic shaped to fit inside a person’s mouth, into which false teeth are fixed
b) British English a thin piece of plastic with wires fixed to it, that some people wear in their mouth to make their teeth straight Synonym : brace British English
⇒ hotplate

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. plate² verb [transitive]
be plated with something
a) to be covered with a thin covering of gold or silver:
a beautiful necklace, plated with 22-carat gold
gold-plated/silver-plated
a gold-plated watch
b) to be covered in sheets of a hard material such as metal:
The ship had been heavily plated with protective sheets.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

plate
noun
I. for food
ADJ. dessert, dinner, serving, side, soup | clean, dirty The sink was full of dirty plates.
empty, full
VERB + PLATE clear, empty I could see how hungry she was from the way she cleared her plate.
clear (away), collect
PREP. on a/the ~ She ate everything on her plate.
~ of a plate of rice

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

plate
II. piece of metal with writing on
ADJ. licence, number The driver was arrested for having false number plates on his car.
name He read the brass name plate by the door.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

plate
noun
BAD: You'll be able to try some of the local plates.
GOOD: You'll be able to try some of the local dishes.

Usage Note:
MEAL · MENU · COURSE · DISH · THE DISHES · PLATE
Meal A meal is the food that you eat at about the same time each day: ‘After the meal we went to a discotheque.’ ‘We usually have our main meal in the evening.’
Menu A menu is a list of all the things that you can order in a restaurant: ‘I tried to read the menu but it was all in French.’ ‘Is there any fish on the menu?’
Course A meal may be served in separate stages. Each stage is called a course: ‘The main course was disappointing, but the dessert was excellent.’ ‘I’m not hungry enough to eat a three-course meal.’
Dish A dish is (1) the food prepared in a particular way and served as a meal or part of a meal: ‘My favourite Italian dish is lasagne.’ ‘For the main course there were six different meal dishes to choose from.’
(2) a (usually shallow) container that food is placed in and then cooked or served: ‘I hope this dish is ovenproof!’
The dishes The dishes is a collective term for all the plates, bowls, cups, etc, that are used during a meal: ‘Whose turn is it to wash the dishes tonight?’
Plate A plate is (1) a (usually round) flat object that food is placed on, especially just before it is eaten: ‘All the clean plates are still in the dishwasher.’ ‘I’d never seen anyone put so much food on their plate.’
(2) (also plateful ) the amount of food on a plate: ‘How can you eat two large plates of spaghetti and still feel hungry?’

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

plate
pleɪt
See: home plate

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲