What's the difference between slate and spate?

Slate


Definition:

  • (v. t.) An argillaceous rock which readily splits into thin plates; argillite; argillaceous schist.
  • (v. t.) Any rock or stone having a slaty structure.
  • (v. t.) A prepared piece of such stone.
  • (v. t.) A thin, flat piece, for roofing or covering houses, etc.
  • (v. t.) A tablet for writing upon.
  • (v. t.) An artificial material, resembling slate, and used for the above purposes.
  • (v. t.) A thin plate of any material; a flake.
  • (v. t.) A list of candidates, prepared for nomination or for election; a list of candidates, or a programme of action, devised beforehand.
  • (v. t.) To cover with slate, or with a substance resembling slate; as, to slate a roof; to slate a globe.
  • (v. t.) To register (as on a slate and subject to revision), for an appointment.
  • (v. t.) To set a dog upon; to bait; to slat. See 2d Slat, 3.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The slate was wiped clean “as far as I am concerned”, Corbyn added, before taking a swipe at the alleged purge of some of his supporters over comments made on Twitter.
  • (2) For that matter, mulching with bark, grit or slate will help keep the surface roots cooler and retain moisture in hot weather.
  • (3) Joe Muto, Slate The Newsroom can be read as Sorkin's attempt to cure what's ailing the news industry, but he's misdiagnosing the patient.
  • (4) They were apparently trying to promote a healthy lifestyle to the Russian public, but Muscle and Fitness magazine slated the president’s technique: “his cable crossover form is crap”.
  • (5) The Hill reports : Senate Republicans elected a slate of white men to their top five leadership positions on Wednesday, and some GOP lawmakers feared the House would follow suit at a time when Republicans have said they need to find ways to reach out to women and minorities.
  • (6) Some establishment party figures have blamed the event for prematurely narrowing the field and forcing candidates to compete in what top GOP strategist David Kochel (now slated to be Jeb Bush’s national campaign manager) once called “a goat rodeo”.
  • (7) While we do expect some significant strength in the top two to three spots in 2015,” he wrote, “we are not convinced that the overall slate is going to drive performance that is significantly better than what we have generally seen over the past four years.” He also fears that the rise in superhero blockbusters is going to lead to disaster for some studios, in the same way that a wider pool of animated films has led to some casualties, with underwhelming receipts for Penguins of Madagascar and Mr Peabody & Sherman most recently.
  • (8) For now, we can't tell, but the Moritz-Heyman scholarships will help us find out by creating a group of graduates who will start on the career ladder with a near-clean slate.
  • (9) The conviction was subsequently wiped from his record under German clean-slate legislation.
  • (10) David Fincher was originally slated to direct the project , but Boyle manages to put his own distinct imprint on it: the film has Boyle’s characteristic frenetic energy, and boasts colourful visuals.
  • (11) Besides, Corbyn wanted to wipe the slate clean – though he was not yet ready to explain what steps he would take to do so – and to remind the party that there was more that united it than divided it.
  • (12) He was slated to give a commencement speech at his alma mater in 2013, but withdrew after controversy arose in wake of his remarks comparing same-sex marriage to pedophilia.
  • (13) That panel is slated to deliver final recommendations as early as this month, although it may slip into the new year.
  • (14) There are a number of things that need to be repealed, but I think what we need to focus on first is what would we replace it with,” Alexander told Slate about a week after the election.
  • (15) The French unit also has proposals for a new film from Dutch genre icon Paul Verhoeven and a remake of 1988 cult horror Maniac Cop on its slate for Cannes.
  • (16) These are slated to move from London to the new Media City development by 2011.
  • (17) I have now left the defence force with a clean slate.
  • (18) The policy was known as “contraction” and it was slated to shut down two clubs, the other being the Minnesota Twins, a team that is thriving years after the policy foundered.
  • (19) A restaurant firm slated to open an outlet in Trump’s new Washington DC hotel complained that the remarks were damaging to them.
  • (20) His papers, which are stored in more than 200 slate-grey boxes, describe fascinating connections to a roll call of the great and the good: Shirley Williams, Ruth First, Nadine Gordimer, Henry Kissinger, Trevor Huddleston, Nelson Mandela , Anthony Crosland, Michael Heseltine, Ted Heath, John Cleese, David Cornwell (John le Carré) and many more.

Spate


Definition:

  • (n.) A river flood; an overflow or inundation.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In recent years, a spate of health care reform proposals have emerged on the American agenda.
  • (2) The processing centre been seized by more than a month of daily protests, as well as a spate of suicide attempts over the last 48 hours.
  • (3) The year since Jo Cox’s death has seen rapid political change around the world: unexpected election results, a rise in digital interference in democratic elections by foreign powers , and a spate of appalling terrorist attacks.
  • (4) There has been a spate of thefts of rhino horns and elephant tusks from European museums, zoos and auction houses in recent years, amid a rising illegal trade in poached or stolen ivory .
  • (5) A spate of suicides by employees of an electronics giant in China has fuelled concern about the pressures of factory life and the emotional vulnerability of young employees.
  • (6) Angry demonstrations over the government’s refusal to relieve Kobani , the Syrian canton under siege from the brutal group calling itself Islamic State (Isis), led to a spate of deaths.
  • (7) A series of measures have been brought in since the December attack aimed at making women safer, but despite these, there has been a spate of attacks on women in Delhi since the beginning of March, including four reported assaults on girls under 18.
  • (8) Rosenberg agreed, pointing out that the spate of bad news was falling at a critical time in the election cycle, when senior politicians had to finally decide whether to throw their hat in the ring.
  • (9) An estimate is made of the frequency and effects of spates.
  • (10) The service has been hit by a spate of station closures over the past 18 months, including TheJazz, OneWord, Core and Capital Life.
  • (11) It's the first interview he's done since his marriage and divorce and the split-up of the Ordinary Boys, and it all comes rushing out in a spate, a tangle of chronological confusions and jokes, and groans when I quote some of his old interviews back at him, and statements of contrition, and digressions about Dawkins or whatever, and here's the confounding thing - he's really nothing like I was expecting, not indie-boy sulky, or attempting to play it cool, he's just talkative and engaging, and he has a sense of humour about himself that, from reading his previous interviews, I wouldn't have even guessed at.
  • (12) Calls are mounting for hardline Jewish settlers to be classified as terrorists after a spate of attacks on Palestinian property in the West Bank and Israel , and threats of violence towards Israeli soldiers.
  • (13) As in journals elsewhere there followed a spate of articles reporting various aspects of cocaine and its usage, including an abortive attempt to find an alternative agent.
  • (14) Merkel’s office has not commented on her dictionary nomination so far, though they might arguably have been able to insist the word was rude or discriminatory, on the same grounds that the nominated word “Alpha Kevin”, meaning the “thickest person of all” was removed from Langenscheidt list, after a reported spate of complaints from people called Kevin, or their parents.
  • (15) Shirin Ebadi , the Iranian Nobel peace prizewinner, joined human rights organisations in February this year in appealing to Iran to impose a moratorium on executions – but after a brief pause following a spate of adverse international publicity, the pace of judicial killings has accelerated again.
  • (16) A spate of US companies have sought acquisitions in the UK and elsewhere this year to gain a lower rate of corporation tax.
  • (17) The coalition's radical shake-up of the planning system was designed to unleash a spate of new housebuilding.
  • (18) The chair of the Senate subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law wrote to the company last month setting out ten questions after a spate of incidents that he said indicated a “troubling disregard for customers’ privacy”.
  • (19) "A toxic mix of gold, greed and alcohol has resulted in a spate of brutal murders in the interior," the newspaper reported, cataloguing killings involving miners, jewellers and shopkeepers working at the gold mines.
  • (20) Donald Trump has made the most direct appeal of his campaign to African American voters as he battles to offset dismal polling among black voters and draw political capital from a recent spate of racially charged unrest in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.