noun

1. a smooth, flat, relatively thin piece of metal or other material
2. a sheet of metal made by beating, rolling, or casting
3. 1. any of the thin sheets of metal, plastic, etc. used in one kind of armor (plate armor)
   2. such armor
4. 1. a thin, flat piece of metal on which an engraving is, or is to be, cut
   2. an impression taken from the engraved metal
5. a print of a woodcut, lithograph, etc., esp. when used in a book
6. a full-page book illustration of any kind, printed on paper of a stock different from that of the text
7. 1. dishes, utensils, etc. of silver or gold, collectively
   2. metal dishes, utensils, etc., or any metallic ware, plated with gold or silver
8. a shallow dish, usually circular, from which food is eaten
9. plateful
10. the food in a dish; a course a fruit plate
11. food and service for an individual at a meal dinner at twenty dollars a plate
12. a dish or other container passed in churches, etc. for donations of money
13. 1. a prize, orig. a gold or silver cup, given to the winner of a race or contest
    2. a contest, esp. a horse race, for such a prize, rather than for stakes
       also called plate race
14. petri dish
15. a thin cut of beef from the forequarter, just below the short ribs
16. Anat., Zool. a thin layer, plate, or scale, as of bone or horny tissue; lamina; scute
17. Archit. a horizontal wooden girder that supports the trusses or rafters of a roof
18. Baseball home plate
19. Dentistry
    1. that part of an artificial denture which fits to the mouth and holds the teeth
    2. loosely a full set of false teeth
20. Elec. anode (senses & )
21. Philately the impression surface from which a sheet of postage stamps is printed
22. Photog. a sheet of glass, metal, etc., coated with a film sensitive to light, upon which the image is formed
23. Printing a cast, to be printed from, made from a mold of set type or from a negative prepared as by photocomposition

Etymology: OFr, flat object < fem. of plat, flat < VL *plattus < Gr platys, broad, flat: see platy-

transitive verb plated plat′ed, plating plat′·ing

1. to overlay or coat with gold, silver, tin, etc. by a mechanical, chemical, or electrical process
2. to cover, as with metal plates for protection
3. to make a printing plate of