The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - plate n.

1) platter, dish, Archaic trencher, charger: I left the cold mashed potato on my plate. 2) course, serving, portion, dish, platter: I ordered their speciality, a plate of spaghetti. 3) layer, leaf, sheet, pane, panel, lamina, slab: In the condenser, insulation separates the thin metal plates. 4) coating, coat, plating, layer, lamination: The plate on our cutlery is wearing thin. 5) illustration, picture, print, US cut: The book contains many beautiful colour plates of flowers. --v. 6) cover, coat, overlay, face, laminate: All the serving dishes were plated with gold.