SHALE

shale

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

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

shale (countable and uncountable, plural shales)

A shell or husk; a cod or pod.

(geology) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.

Usage notes

Before the mid 19th century, the terms shale, slate and schist were not sharply distinguished. Shales that are subject to heat and pressure alter into slate, then schist and finally to gneiss.

Verb

shale (third-person singular simple present shales, present participle shaling, simple past and past participle shaled)

To take off the shell or coat of.

Synonyms

• shell

Anagrams

• Hales, Heals, Sahel, Saleh, Selah, hales, halse, heals, leash, selah, sheal

Source: Wiktionary

Shale, n. Etym: [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. Etym: [G. shale.] (Geol.)

Definition: A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure. Bituminous shale. See under Bituminous.

Shale, v. t.

Definition: To take off the shell or coat of; to shell. Life, in its upper grades, was bursting its shell, or was shaling off its husk. I. Taylor.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition