1.plate作动词的意思是在板上覆以金属,即“镀,电镀”,指在金属的表面上利用电来覆盖一层金属物质,如金、银、锡等。
2.plate多用作及物动词,后接名词或代词作宾语。

plate with(v.+prep.)
镀以… cover (an object) with a thin coat of (usually precious metal)
▲plate sth with sth
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
The knives and forks are not as valuable as they look; they've only been plated with silver.这些刀叉并不像看起来那样值钱,它们都是刚刚镀的银。

用作及物动词
▲S+～+n./pron.
He plated the old silver container again.他给这个旧的镀银器皿重新镀银。

［同义词］ n.  dish, platter, batten, board, plank
［词源］  ＜古法语plate(金属薄板平面)

1.plate的基本意思是“盆子,盘子”,是一种可用以盛汤、也可用以装菜的比dish浅的盘子,是可数名词。
2.plate可用作不可数名词,统称金银餐具,也可指金银器皿、镀金或镀银器皿。plate还可表示“一盘…的量”。
3.plate作“金属牌”解时一般指印有某人或商店姓名的门牌或招牌,是可数名词。
4.plate作“平板”“薄板”“薄片”解时,指由金属等制作而成的一种板子(如钢板等),是可数名词。

on a plate
轻易地 with too little effort
You can't expect promotion to be handed to you on a plate.晋升的事你休想轻易获得。
You can't expect people to give you all the answers on a plate.你不能指望人家把所有的答案都顺顺当当地奉送给你。


on one's plate
要应付(很多困难的工作),有(很多工作或问题)要处理 deal with (and giving one a lot of problems)
I can't possibly take a holiday at the moment; I've got far too much on my plate.我不可能现在休假,我有太多的事要处理。
You've got too much on your plate; why don't you employ an assistant?你自己要做的事太多了,你为什么不雇个助手?
Even if this means that they have too much on their plate, they always manage somehow.即使这意味着他们要处理很多事务,他们总是能够应付。

I was brought a clean plate.有人给我拿了一个干净盘子。
A broken plate can be cemented.碎盘能被粘起来。
The children sat down round a small table and began to feed off a big plate.孩子们围坐在一张小桌子边,开始吃大盘子里的东西。
He emptied the biscuits onto the plate.他把饼干全部倒入盘子。
I dropped the plate and it fell to pieces.我把盘子打了,摔得粉碎。
These are solid silｖer plates.这些盘子是纯银的。
Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
The plates were all edged with a rich border of gold.这些盘子都镶有富丽的金边。
Go and see how many plates we have — but don't count in the cracked ones.去看看我们有多少盘子——但不要把有裂纹的计算在内。
These broken pieces of plates don't fit together; they must be parts of different ones.这些盘子的碎片无法拼在一起,它们肯定是不同盘子的碎片。
Now some people eat their food from paper plates.现在有人用纸盘子盛东西吃。
He gave us a plate of meat and potatoes.他给我们一盘马铃薯烧肉。
He lapped up a plate of soup.他贪婪地喝掉一碗汤。
The family plate included a silver pitcher, and knives, forks and spoons.家庭餐具包括一个银制的大水罐,还有刀叉和汤匙。
The thief stole some valuable gold plate.小偷盗走一些贵重的金器。
It's only plate, so it's not very valuable.这只不过是个镀金器皿,并不太值钱。
I read her name on the polished brass plate.我在擦亮的黄铜门牌上看到了她的名字。
In the steel plate five holes were drilled an inch apart.在这块钢板上钻了五个相距一英寸的孔。
We have succeeded in bending the thick steel plates.我们终于把这些厚钢板弄弯了。
They floored the bridge with concrete plates.他们用混凝土板铺桥面。

on a plate, on one's plate
这两个短语结构相同,但意思不同:on a plate的意思是“轻易地做某件事”,而on one's plate的意思是“要应付很多困难的工作”“有很多工作或问题要处理”。
plate, batten, board, plank
参见board条。
plate, dish, platter
参见dish条。