slat meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

slat

noun

/slæt/

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.

A thin, narrow strip or bar of wood (lath), metal, or plastic.

slats of a window blind
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:

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences 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.

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Skiing, Sports 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 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:

2 more examples

[…] 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 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:

Derived terms: slatback, slatless, slatlike

slat

verb

To construct or provide with slats.

To slap or strike; to beat, pummel; to hurl or throw down violently.

Men[dozo]. How did you kill him? / Mal[evole]. Slatted his braines out, then ſowſt him in the brinie ſea. / Men. Braind him and drownd him too?c. 1603 (date written), Iohn Marston, The Malcontent, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for William Aspley, […], published 1604, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iii:

To throw (something, especially water or liquid) down; to slam or splash (something) down.

[…] a nudge o' kissing-crust After thy leeky broth: I've warmed thy porridge on tha trivet, Jimmy, zay prayers avore 'e have it, And doant 'e slat tha clath.1867, William Frederick Rock, Jim and Nell: A Dramatic Poem in the Dialect of North Devon, page 35:
[…] slatting water over everything in the dory.1921, Raymond McFarland, Sons of the Sea, page 147:

3 more examples

[…] by the sound she knew that he was slatting water from his oilskins. "Thanks. A wet day, sir." The door closed. He must have entered without invitation and shut the door behind him.1923 August 11, The Saturday Evening Post, page 88:
Mac stood over me, slatting water off his arms, his face purple.1953, Rogers Terrill, The Argosy Book of Sea Stories, page 136:
The hose came in hand over hand, as the sailormen say, and in a few moments the end came switching down on them, slatting water in all directions.2011 October 1, William Hope Hodgson, The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson: The Ghost Pirates & Other Revenants of The Sea, Start Publishing LLC, →ISBN:

Of rain or other water To fall; to beat (against something).

[…] sending solid grey water slatting against her wheelhouse windows.1938, Outdoor Life:
[…] water slatting over the rail. The salt caked on her face and when the sun came up, it was as though her face was being pot-roasted - with salt.1943 04, Collier's: Incorporating Features of the American Magazine:

2 more examples

[…] rain slatting down in the weed-grown garden.2003, Jean Lee Latham, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 8:
[…] rain slatting against the outside of the window.2008 September 30, Zoe Sharp, Second Shot: A Charlie Fox Mystery, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 31:

UK, Dialectal To split; to crack.

Both head-peeces and habergeons were slat and dashed a peeces.1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, translated by Philemon Holland, The Roman Historie, […], London: […] Adam Jslip, →OCLC:

To set on; to incite.

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