n.

1. a sheet of metal or wood or glass or plastic
2. (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score;
   home plate, home base, home
   
   • he ruled that the runner failed to touch home
3. a full-page illustration (usually on slick paper)
4. dish on which food is served or from which food is eaten
5. the quantity contained in a plate;
   plateful
6. a rigid layer of the Earth's crust that is believed to drift slowly;
   crustal plate
7. the thin under portion of the forequarter
8. a main course served on a plate
   
   • a vegetable plate
   • the blue plate special
9. any flat platelike body structure or part
10. the positively charged electrode in a vacuum tube
11. a flat sheet of metal or glass on which a photographic image can be recorded;
    photographic plate
12. structural member consisting of a horizontal beam that provides bearing and anchorage
13. a shallow receptacle for collection in church;
    collection plate
14. a metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners);
    scale, shell
15. a dental appliance that artificially replaces missing teeth;
    denture, dental plate

v.

1. coat with a layer of metal
   
   • plate spoons with silver