plate / plāt/ • n. 1. a flat dish, typically circular and made of china, from which food is eaten or served. ∎  an amount of food on such a dish: a plate of spaghetti. ∎  a flat dish, typically made of metal or wood, passed around a church congregation in order to collect donations of money. ∎  a course of a meal, served on one plate: I’ll have the salad plate. ∎  an individual meal, with reference to its cost: a gala $1,000-a-plate dinner. ∎  Biol. a shallow glass dish on which a culture of cells or microorganisms may be grown. ∎  dishes, bowls, cups, and other utensils made of gold, silver, or other metal. ∎  a silver or gold dish or trophy awarded as a prize in a race or competition: she lifted the plate in victory.2. a thin, flat sheet or strip of metal or other material, typically one used to join or strengthen things or forming part of a machine: he underwent surgery to have a steel plate put into his leg. ∎  a small, flat piece of metal or other material bearing a name or inscription and attached to a door or other object: a brass plate with her initials. ∎  (usu. plates) short for license plate: the car had Vermont plates. ∎  Bot. & Zool. a thin, flat organic structure or formation: the fused bony plates protect the tortoise's soft parts. ∎  Geol. each of the several rigid pieces of the earth's lithosphere that together make up the earth's surface.(See also plate tectonics.) ∎  Baseball short for home plate. ∎  a piece of lumber laid horizontally along the top of a wall to support the ends of joists or rafters. ∎  a light horseshoe for a racehorse.3. a sheet of metal, plastic, or some other material bearing an image of type or illustrations from which multiple copies are printed. ∎  a printed photograph, picture, or illustration, esp. one on superior-quality paper in a book. ∎  a thin sheet of metal, glass, or other substance coated with a light-sensitive film on which an image is formed, used in larger or older types of cameras.4. a thin piece of plastic molded to the shape of a person's mouth and gums, to which artificial teeth or another orthodontic appliance are attached. ∎  inf. a complete denture or orthodontic appliance.5. a thin piece of metal that acts as an electrode in a capacitor, battery, or cell. ∎  the anode of a thermionic tube.• v. [tr.] 1. cover (a metal object) with a thin coating or film of a different metal: she had already taken the coin to a jeweler to be plated | [as adj. , in comb.] (-plated) the cylinder is nickel-plated. ∎  cover (an object) with plates of metal for decoration, protection, or strength.2. serve or arrange (food) on a plate or plates before a meal: overcooked vegetables won't look appetizing, no matter how they are plated.3. Baseball score (a run or runs); cause (someone) to score.4. Biol. inoculate (cells or infective material) onto a culture plate, esp. with the object of isolating a particular strain of microorganisms or estimating viable cell numbers.PHRASES: on one's plate occupying one's time or energy: you've got a lot on your plate at the moment.DERIVATIVES: plate·ful / -ˌfoŏl/ n. (pl. -fuls) plate·less adj.plat·er / ˈplātər/ n.ORIGIN: Middle English (denoting a flat, thin sheet, usually of metal): from Old French, from medieval Latin plata ‘plate armor,’ based on Greek platus ‘flat.’ Sense 1 represents Old French plat ‘platter, large dish,’ also ‘dish of meat,’ noun use of Old French plat ‘flat.’