1. A kind of hard stone that splits easily into thin layers: "Most school blackboards were once made of slate and some schools still use this form of chalk board for classroom use."
2. A fine-grained rock that splits easily into layers and is widely used as a roofing material and on walls: "The house was constructed with a slate roof."
3. A list of people who are attempting to win a political election: "The local political party presented an impressive slate of candidates for next year."
4. A record of some past performance or activity: "The party members will have to start over with a clean slate if they want any of their candidates to win during the next election."
5. A portable computer that does not have a keyboard input device physically attached to it: "The slate is essentially a computer that consists of a touch input screen and relies on input to come from finger or stylus input and on-screen keyboards for textual input."

"A slate is a class of notebook computers that accept input from an electronic pen rather than from a keyboard."

1. To arrange or to plan for something to happen: "The city is planning to slate a new science museum to be opened next year."

"The singer will slate her new album for release next month."

2. To be chosen for some position, job, etc.: "The company apparently plans to slate our supervisor to become the company's next CEO."