Plate Thin Pleɪt Sandwiches Dirty Large Flat Metal

• sandwiches on a plate
• a pile of dirty plates
• dinner plates
• a plate of sandwiches

plate

1. a flat, usually round, dish that you put food on
• sandwiches on a plate
• a pile of dirty plates
• dinner plates
2. the amount of food that you can put on a plate
• compare plateful
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/plateful
• a plate of sandwiches
• two large plates of pasta
3. a whole main course of a meal, served on one plate
• Try the seafood plate.
4. a thin flat piece of metal, used especially to join or make something stronger
• The tanks were mainly constructed of steel plates.
• She had a metal plate inserted in her arm.
5. a flat piece of metal with some information on it, for example somebody’s name
• see also nameplate
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/nameplate
• A brass plate beside the door said ‘Dr Alan Tate’.
6. the pieces of metal or plastic at the front and back of a vehicle with numbers and letters on it
• see also L-plate
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/l-plate
7. ordinary metal that is covered with a thin layer of silver or gold
• see also gold plate
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/gold-plate
• The cutlery is plate, not solid silver.
8. dishes, bowls, etc. that are made of silver or gold
• the family plate
9. one of the thin flat pieces of horn or bone that cover and protect an animal
• the armadillo’s protective shell of bony plates
10. one of the very large pieces of rock that form the earth’s surface and move slowly
• see also plate tectonics
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/plate-tectonics
• the Pacific plate
• Earthquakes are caused by two tectonic plates bumping into each other.
11. 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. a sheet of metal, plastic, etc. that has been treated so that words or pictures can be printed from it
• a printing plate
13. 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
14. a thin piece of plastic with wire or artificial teeth attached to it which fits inside your mouth in order to make your teeth straight
• compare brace
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/brace_1
• = home plate
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/home-plate
15. a flat dish that is used to collect money from people in a church
16. to give something to somebody without the person concerned making any effort
• Nobody's going to hand you success on a plate.
17. to have a lot of work or problems, etc. to deal with
18. to do what is necessary in order to benefit from an opportunity or deal with a crisis
• It's important for world leaders to step up to the plate and honor their commitments on global warming.
• It’s time for businesses to step up to the plate and accept responsibility.

Extra Examples

• I could see how hungry she was from the way she cleared her plate.
• She ate everything on her plate.
• The driver was arrested for having false licence/license plates on his car.
• The sink was full of dirty plates.
• a plate of rice
• He barely touched the food on his plate.
• He came in carrying a plate of sandwiches.
• The set includes four dinner plates, four side plates and four soup bowls.
• There was an enormous pile of dirty plates in the kitchen sink.
• There were two large plates of pasta on the table.
• We used plastic cutlery and ate off paper plates.
• a vehicle’s license plates

Word Origin

• Middle English (denoting a flat, thin sheet, usually of metal): from Old French, from medieval Latin plata ‘plate armour’, based on Greek platus ‘flat’. Senses (1) to (3) represent Old French plat ‘platter, large dish’, also ‘dish of meat’, noun use of Old French plat ‘flat’.