shale

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

shale
    n 1: a sedimentary rock formed by the deposition of successive
         layers of clay

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Shale \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.                --I. Taylor.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Shale \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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. [G. shale.] (Geol.) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a
      thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Bituminous shale}. See under {Bituminous}.
      [1913 Webster]

[email protected]