shale(n = noun.substance) - a sedimentary rock formed by the deposition of successive layers of clay;
is a kind of sedimentary rock
has particulars: humic shale, oil shale
1. A shell or husk; a cod or pod. Chapman. [1913 Webster]
2. A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure. [1913 Webster]
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." [1913 Webster]
shale, n. soft finely stratified rock that splits easily, consisting of consolidated mud or clay.
Idiom:
shale oil oil obtained from bituminous shale.
Derivative:
shaly adj.
Etymology:
prob. f. G Schale f. OE sc(e)alu rel. to ON sk{aacute}l (see SCALE(2))