词性: nounfood
1 [C] a flat, usually round, dish that you put food on:
sandwiches on a plate * a pile of dirty plates * dinner / side plates
2 [C] the amount of food that you can put on a plate:
a plate of sandwiches * two large plates of pasta
comparePLATEFUL
3 [C] (especially AmE) a whole main course of a meal, served on one plate:
Try the seafood plate.
for strength
4 [C] a thin flat piece of metal, used especially to join or strengthen sth:
The tanks were mainly constructed of steel plates. * She had a metal plate inserted in her arm.
for information
5 [C] a flat piece of metal with some information on it, for example sb's name:
A brass plate beside the door said 'Dr Alan Tate'.
seealsoNAMEPLATE
on vehicle
6 [usuallypl.] the pieces of metal or plastic at the front and back of a vehicle with numbers and letters on it
compareL-PLATE
seealsoLICENSEPLATE, NUMBERPLATE
silver / gold
7 [U] ordinary metal that is covered with a thin layer of silver or gold:
The cutlery is plate, not solid silver.
seealsoGOLDPLATE, SILVERPLATE, TINPLATE
8 [U] dishes, bowls, etc. that are made of silver or gold:
the family plate
on animal
9 [C] (biology) one of the thin flat pieces of horn or bone that cover and protect an animal:
the armadillo's protective shell of bony plates
geology
10 [C] one of the very large pieces of rock that form the earth's surface and move slowly:
the Pacific / Indian plate * Earthquakes are caused by two tectonic plates bumping into each other.
seealsoPLATETECTONICS
printing / photography
11 [C] a photograph that is used as a picture in a book, especially one that is printed on a separate page on high quality paper:
The book includes 55 colour plates. * See plate 4.
12 [C] a sheet of metal, plastic, etc. that has been treated so that words or pictures can be printed from it:
a printing plate
13 [C] a thin sheet of glass, metal, etc. that is covered with chemicals so that it reacts to light and can form an image, used in larger or older cameras
in mouth
14 [C] a thin piece of plastic that fits inside your mouth, that has artificial teeth attached to it, or wire, etc. to make the teeth straight
compareBRACE, DENTURES
in baseball
15 [sing.] (AmE) = HOMEPLATE
in church
16 (usually the plate) [sing.] a flat dish that is used to collect money from people in a church
seealsoBOOKPLATE, BREASTPLATE, FOOTPLATE, HOTPLATE
IDIOMS
have enough / a lot / too much on your plate (informal) to have a lot of work or problems, etc. to deal with
moreatHANDv.
verb [VN] [usuallypassive]
1 to cover a metal with a thin layer of another metal, especially gold or silver:
a silver ring plated with gold
seealsoGOLD-PLATED, SILVERPLATE
2 to cover sth with sheets of metal or another hard substance:
The walls of the vault were plated with steel.
seealsoARMOUR-PLATED
