GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Shale (?), n. [AS. scealy, scalu. See Scalme, and cf. Shell.]
   1. A shell or husk; a cod or pod. “The green shales of a bean.”  Chapman.
   
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   2. [G. shale.] (Geol.) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.
   
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   Bituminous shale. See under Bituminous.
   
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2.       
   Shale, v. t. To take off the shell or coat of; to shell.
   
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   Life, in its upper grades, was bursting its shell, or was shaling off its husk. I. Taylor.
   
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