shale

[sheyl] /ʃeɪl/
noun
1.
a rock of fissile or laminated structure formed by the consolidation of clay or argillaceous material.
Origin
1740-50; origin uncertain; compare obsolete shale to split (said of stone), to shell, derivative of shale shell, husk, Old English scealu shell, husk; see scale2
Related forms
shalelike, shaley, adjective
Examples from the web for shale
  • Fracking is a form of drilling for natural gas from shale rock.
  • The excavation soon struck slabs of shale that had likely been thrown in to fill up what was clearly a burial site.
  • Residents watch methane flaring from shale-gas drilling operations.
  • Halfway up, it began to drizzle, and he grew anxious about her trainers on the wet shale near the top.
  • Our experience with shale gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don't always come right away.
  • We hump duffels and gear up a steep snowbank to an outcrop of broken shale and tussock.
  • shale gas has become a significant part of our energy mix over the past decade.
  • Vast amounts of the clean-burning fossil fuel have been discovered in shale deposits, setting off a gas rush.
  • The creature's remains were trapped between two layers of fine paper shale, preserving the feathers that covered its entire body.
  • For reasons largely unknown, this was a periodic process resulting in the alternating bands of iron oxide and shale.
British Dictionary definitions for shale

shale

/ʃeɪl/
noun
1.
a dark fine-grained laminated sedimentary rock formed by compression of successive layers of clay-rich sediment
Derived Forms
shaly, adjective
Word Origin
Old English scealushell; compare German Schalstein laminated limestone; see scale1, scale²
Word Origin and History for shale
n.

1747, possibly a specialized use of Middle English schale "shell, husk, pod" (late 14c.), also "fish scale," from Old English scealu (see shell (n.)) in its base sense of "thing that divides or separate," in reference to the way the rock breaks apart in layers. Cf. Middle English sheel "to shell, to take off the outer husk" (late 15c.). Geological use also possibly influenced by German Schalstein "laminated limestone," and Schalgebirge "layer of stone in stratified rock."

shale in Science
shale
  (shāl)   
A fine-grained sedimentary rock consisting of compacted and hardened clay, silt, or mud. Shale forms in many distinct layers and splits easily into thin sheets or slabs. It varies in color from black or gray to brown or red.
shale in Culture

shale definition


A sedimentary rock formed from layers of clay.