slat en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /slæt/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English slatte, sklatte, sklat, sclat, from Old French esclat (“piece broken or split off, shiver, splinter”), from Old French esclater (“to split, burst”), from Frankish *slaitijan (“to split, break”), from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to rend, split”). Doublet of slate and éclat.
Meanings
-
A thin, narrow strip or bar of wood (lath), metal, or plastic.
To keep people out, the Nature Conservancy, which owns the cave, has blocked off the entrance with huge iron slats.
2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, page 208:slats of a window blind
- A control surface that extends forwards and downwards from the leading edge of a wing, leaving a gap between it and the leading edge, in order to modify the airflow around the wing so as to allow flight at a higher angle of attack without stalling, lowering the aircraft's stall speed.
-
(slang) A ski.
I never got down that hill without losing at least one of my skis! Clarence didn't lose his slats. The straps went over his boots and held them in place. If he fell, he risked breaking a foot or leg, but the slats stayed on.
2005, Richard V. Shriver, Gold to Refine, page 31:
- A thin piece of stone; a slate.
-
A drop (of rain or water), a splash.
[…] slats of rain broke upon the surface.
1907, Dixon Scott, Liverpool, page 36:[…] a slat of rain. The River-Woman grasped the pouch with her left hand and touched the mouth of it with her right.
1939, Richard Matthews Hallet, Michael Beam:A slat of rain drove into his face. It was pitch dark but the sea was calmer and the bucking of the ship had lessened.
1937 04, Collier's:[…] a slat of rain and wind gusts which whitened the water where the river made its bend. Then the squall was gone as swiftly as it had come and the sun began to break through the clouds as Mike went slowly along the trail.
1956, The Saturday Evening Post:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| slats | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
slatback · slatlike · slatless
Synonyms
spline · billet · batten · flitch
Translations (34)
ota لاطه (thin, narrow strip) · cs lať (thin, narrow strip) · nl lamel (thin, narrow strip) · ru пла́нка (thin, narrow strip) · gl listón (thin, narrow strip) · fr lamelle (thin, narrow strip) · hu lap (thin, narrow strip) · ru пласти́нка (thin, narrow strip) · hu zsalugáterléc (thin, narrow strip) · hu léc (thin, narrow strip) · de Lamelle (thin, narrow strip) · tr lata (thin, narrow strip) · fr bec à fente commandé (aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing) · de Streifen (thin, narrow strip) · fi etureunasolakko (aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing) · de Vorflügel (aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing) · mi porohanga (thin, narrow strip) · gl lamela (thin, narrow strip) · fr dispositif hypersustentateur (aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing) · de Leiste (thin, narrow strip) · fr palette (thin, narrow strip) · it barra (thin, narrow strip) · it stecca (thin, narrow strip) · fi solakko (aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing) · gl lata (thin, narrow strip) · it stanga (thin, narrow strip) · hu redőnyléc (thin, narrow strip) · it ipersostentatore (aeronautical: moveable control surface at the leading edge of a wing) · cs laťka (thin, narrow strip) · fi säle (thin, narrow strip) · cs lamela (thin, narrow strip) · mk летва (thin, narrow strip) · bg летва (thin, narrow strip) · cs lišta (thin, narrow strip)