shale

Noun

WORDNET DICTIONARY

shale(n = noun.substance) Array - a sedimentary rock formed by the deposition of successive layers of clay; Array

has particulars: humic shale, oil shale

shale, n. [AS. scealy, scalu. See Scalme, and cf. Shell.].

A shell or husk; a cod or pod. Chapman. [1913 Webster]
A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure. [1913 Webster]

Bituminous shale. See under Bituminous.

shale, v. t.

To take off the shell or coat of; to shell. [1913 Webster]

"Life, in its upper grades, was bursting its shell, or was shaling off its husk." [1913 Webster]

shale, n. soft finely stratified rock that splits easily, consisting of consolidated mud or clay.

Idiom

shale oil oil obtained from bituminous shale.

Derivative

shaly adj.

Etymology

prob. f. G Schale f. OE sc(e)alu rel. to ON sk{aacute}l (see SCALE(2))