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Shale

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shale

  [sheyl]
Use Shale in a Sentence
–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 scale 2

Related forms:
shalelike, shaley, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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shale   (shāl)   
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

shale

A sedimentary rock formed from layers of clay.

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

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."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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