Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
gray skate

gray skate

7.8
A large flat fish with gray skin that people often eat
  • noun
  • /ɡreɪ skeɪt/
  • US
translation icon : raya gris
  • The chef prepared a delicious dish using grilled gray skate and lemon butter.

Examples

  • Fresh gray skate is often sold in markets along the Atlantic coast.

  • We caught a gray skate while fishing yesterday.

  • Fishmongers recommend buying gray skate when it's in season for the best flavor.

  • The gray skate is a popular dish in coastal restaurants.

  • Fishmongers recommend buying gray skate when it's in season for the best flavor.

  • Fresh gray skate is often sold in markets along the Atlantic coast.

  • The chef prepared a delicious dish using grilled gray skate and lemon butter.

Synonyms

skate
vsgray skate
32 7.9

A large sea fish with wide flat fins often served as food

focuses on a specific European food fish with a grayish color
Raja batis
vsgray skate
  • UK
9.9

A large flat sea fish with wide fins like wings found near European coasts and eaten as food

is the same fish but noted specifically for its grayish color

Surface Forms

gray skate singular
gray skates plural
grey skates plural
grey skate singular

Morphology

gray + skate

The noun phrase is compositionally built from 'gray' (a color) + 'skate' (a fish), so its meaning — a skate that is gray or a species commonly called the gray skate — is directly derivable from the constituents. Color + noun constructions are common in English and cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand this MWE.

Etymology

Gray skate is a simple name from fishermen: the fish is a flat skate that seems to glide over the sea floor and this kind is mostly gray, so people called it the gray skate. That's why gray skate means the large gray fish people buy to eat.