Shale - Definitions from Dictionary.com

10 results for: Shale

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

shale

–noun

a rock of fissile or laminated structure formed by the consolidation of clay or argillaceous material.

[Origin: 1740–50; orig. uncert.; cf. obs. shale to split (said of stone), to shell, deriv. of shale shell, husk, OE scealu shell, husk; see scale²

]

—Related forms

shalelike, shaley, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Shale

To learn more about Shale visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shale Audio Help (shāl) Pronunciation Key
n. A fissile rock composed of layers of claylike, fine-grained sediments.

[Probably from Middle English, shell, from Old English scealu; see skel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

shal'ey adj.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shale

1747, possibly a specialized use of M.E. schale "shell, husk, pod" (c.1380), also "fish scale," from O.E. scealu (see shell) in its base sense of "thing that divides or separate," in ref. to the way the rock breaks apart in layers. Geological use also possibly influenced by Ger. Schalstein "laminated limestone," and Schalgebirge "layer of stone in stratified rock."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

shale
noun
a sedimentary rock formed by the deposition of successive layers of clay

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shale Audio Help (shāl) Pronunciation Key
A fine-grained sedimentary rock consisting of compacted and hardened clay, silt, or mud. Shale forms in many distinct layers and splits easily into thin sheets or slabs. It varies in color from black or gray to brown or red.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
shale

A sedimentary rock formed from layers of clay.

[Chapter:] Earth Sciences

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shale

Scale\, n. [Cf. AS. scealu, scalu, a shell, parings; akin to D. schaal, G. schale, OHG. scala, Dan. & Sw. skal a shell, Dan. ski[ae]l a fish scale, Goth. skalja tile, and E. shale, shell, and perhaps also to scale of a balance; but perhaps rather fr. OF. escale, escaile, F. ['e]caille scale of a fish, and ['e]cale shell of beans, pease, eggs, nuts, of German origin, and akin to Goth. skalja, G. schale. See Shale.]

1. (Anat.) One of the small, thin, membranous, bony or horny pieces which form the covering of many fishes and reptiles, and some mammals, belonging to the dermal part of the skeleton, or dermoskeleton. See Cycloid, Ctenoid, and Ganoid.

Fish that, with their fins and shining scales, Glide under the green wave. --Milton.

2. Hence, any layer or leaf of metal or other material, resembling in size and thinness the scale of a fish; as, a scale of iron, of bone, etc.

3. (Zo["o]l.) One of the small scalelike structures covering parts of some invertebrates, as those on the wings of Lepidoptera and on the body of Thysanura; the elytra of certain annelids. See Lepidoptera.

4. (Zo["o]l.) A scale insect. (See below.)

5. (Bot.) A small appendage like a rudimentary leaf, resembling the scales of a fish in form, and often in arrangement; as, the scale of a bud, of a pine cone, and the like. The name is also given to the chaff on the stems of ferns.

6. The thin metallic side plate of the handle of a pocketknife. See Illust. of Pocketknife.

7. An incrustation deposit on the inside of a vessel in which water is heated, as a steam boiler.

8. (Metal.) The thin oxide which forms on the surface of iron forgings. It consists essentially of the magnetic oxide, Fe3O4. Also, a similar coating upon other metals.

Covering scale (Zo["o]l.), a hydrophyllium.

Ganoid scale. (Zo["o]l.) See under Ganoid.

Scale armor (Mil.), armor made of small metallic scales overlapping, and fastened upon leather or cloth.

Scale beetle (Zo["o]l.), the tiger beetle.

Scale carp (Zo["o]l.), a carp having normal scales.

Scale insect (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of small hemipterous insects belonging to the family Coccid[ae], in which the females, when adult, become more or less scalelike in form. They are found upon the leaves and twigs of various trees and shrubs, and often do great damage to fruit trees. See Orange scale,under Orange.

Scale moss (Bot.), any leafy-stemmed moss of the order Hepatic[ae]; -- so called from the small imbricated scalelike leaves of most of the species. See Hepatica, 2, and Jungermannia.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shale

Shale\, n. [AS. scealy, scalu. See Scalme, and cf. Shell.]

1. A shell or husk; a cod or pod. "The green shales of a bean." --Chapman.

2. [G. shale.] (Geol.) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.

Bituminous shale. See under Bituminous.

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

SHALE

SHALE: in Acronym Finder

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shale

shale: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary