FLAT

flat

(adjective) commercially inactive; “flat sales for the month”; “prices remained flat”; “a flat market”

flat, mat, matt, matte, matted

(adjective) not reflecting light; not glossy; “flat wall paint”; “a photograph with a matte finish”

flat

(adjective) having a relatively broad surface in relation to depth or thickness; “flat computer monitors”

dimensional, two-dimensional, flat

(adjective) lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth; “a film with two-dimensional characters”; “a flat two-dimensional painting”

flat, level, plane

(adjective) having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another; “a flat desk”; “acres of level farmland”; “a plane surface”; “skirts sewn with fine flat seams”

flat

(adjective) lacking contrast or shading between tones

flat

(adjective) horizontally level; “a flat roof”

flat, prostrate

(adjective) stretched out and lying at full length along the ground; “found himself lying flat on the floor”

flat, monotone, monotonic, monotonous

(adjective) sounded or spoken in a tone unvarying in pitch; “the owl’s faint monotonous hooting”

flat

(adjective) (of a musical note) lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone; “B flat”

categoric, categorical, flat, unconditional

(adjective) not modified or restricted by reservations; “a categorical denial”; “a flat refusal”

flat

(adjective) having lost effervescence; “flat beer”; “a flat cola”

bland, flat

(adjective) lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; “a bland little drama”; “a flat joke”

bland, flat, flavorless, flavourless, insipid, savorless, savourless, vapid

(adjective) lacking taste or flavor or tang; “a bland diet”; “insipid hospital food”; “flavorless supermarket tomatoes”; “vapid beer”; “vapid tea”

compressed, flat

(adjective) flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes)

directly, flat, straight

(adverb) in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly; “he didn’t answer directly”; “told me straight out”; “came out flat for less work and more pay”

flat

(adverb) with flat sails; “sail flat against the wind”

apartment, flat

(noun) a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house

flat

(noun) scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting

flat, flat tire

(noun) a deflated pneumatic tire

flat

(noun) a shallow box in which seedlings are started

flatcar, flatbed, flat

(noun) freight car without permanent sides or roof

flat

(noun) a musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named

flat

(noun) a level tract of land; “the salt flats of Utah”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Adjective

flat (comparative flatter, )

Having no variations in height.

(music, voice) Without variations in pitch.

(slang) Having small or invisible breasts and/or buttocks.

(music, note) Lowered by one semitone.

(music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.

(of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.

Uninteresting.

(of a carbonated drink) With all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.

(wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.

(of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.

(juggling, of a throw) Without spin; spinless.

(figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; dull and boring.

Absolute; downright; peremptory.

(phonetics, dated, of a consonant) sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant

(grammar) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign "to".

(golf, of a golf club) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.

(horticulture, of certain fruits) Flattening at the ends.

(authorship, figuratively, especially, of a character) Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.

Antonym: round

(commerce, not comparable) Fixed; unvarying.

Synonyms

• (having no variations in altitude): even, planar, plane, smooth, uniform

• (deflated): deflated, punctured

• (without variations in pitch): monotone

• (uninteresting): boring, dull, uninteresting; see also boring

• (of a carbonated drink: no longer fizzes): still, unfizzy; see also noneffervescent

• (of wine: lacking acidity): flabby

Antonyms

• (having no variations in altitude): bumpy, cratered, hilly (of terrain), rough (of a surface), wrinkled (of a surface)

• (music: lowered by one semitone): sharp

• (music: lower in pitch than it should be): sharp

Adverb

flat (comparative more flat, superlative most flat)

So as to be flat.

Bluntly.

(with units of time, distance, etc) Not exceeding.

Completely.

Directly; flatly.

(finance, slang) Without allowance for accrued interest.

Synonyms

• (so as to be flat)

• (bluntly): bluntly, curtly

• (not exceeding): tops

• (completely): absolutely, completely, utterly

Noun

flat (plural flats)

An area of level ground.

(music) A note played a semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).

(informal, automotive) A flat tyre/tire.

(in the plural) A type of ladies' shoes with very low heels.

(in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.

(painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolor/watercolour painting.

The flat part of something

(swordfighting) The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.

The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.

A wide, shallow container or pallet.

(mail) A large mail piece measuring at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, such as catalogs, magazines, and unfolded paper enclosed in large envelopes.

(rail, US) A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.

A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.

(geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.

A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.

A flat sheet for use on a bed.

A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.

(mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.

(obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.

(technical, theatre) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin that depicts a building or other part of a scene, also called backcloth and backdrop.

(entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.

(historical) An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.

Antonyms

• (note): sharp

• (shoes): high heels

Verb

flat (third-person singular simple present flats, present participle flatting, simple past and past participle flatted)

(poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without raising.

(intransitive) To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.

(intransitive, music, colloquial) To fall from the pitch.

(transitive, music) To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.

(transitive, dated) To make flat; to flatten; to level.

(transitive, dated) To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.

Etymology 2

Noun

flat (plural flats)

(chiefly, British, New England, New Zealand and Australian, archaic elsewhere) An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.

Synonyms

• (apartment): apartment

Etymology 3

Verb

flat (third-person singular simple present flats, present participle flatting, simple past and past participle flatted)

(transitive, obsolete) To beat or strike; pound

(transitive) To dash or throw

(intransitive) To dash, rush

Anagrams

• falt

Source: Wiktionary


Flat, a. [Compar. Flatter; superl. Flattest.] Etym: [Akin to Icel. flatr, Sw. flat, Dan. flad, OHG. flaz, and AS. flet floor, G. flötz stratum, layer.]

1. Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane. Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. Milton.

2. Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed. What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! Milton. I feel . . . my hopes all flat. Milton.

3. (Fine Arts)

Definition: Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest. A large part of the work is, to me, very flat. Coleridge.

4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.

5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition. How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Shak.

6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.

7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright. Flat burglary as ever was committed. Shak. A great tobacco taker too, -- that's flat. Marston.

8. (Mus.) (a) Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat. (b) Not sharp or shrill; not acute; as, a flat sound.

9. (Phonetics)

Definition: Sonant; vocal; -- applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant. Flat arch. (Arch.) See under Arch, n., 2. (b).

– Flat cap, cap paper, not folded. See under Paper.

– Flat chasing, in fine art metal working, a mode of ornamenting silverware, etc., producing figures by dots and lines made with a punching tool. Knight.

– Flat chisel, a sculptor's chisel for smoothing.

– Flat file, a file wider than its thickness, and of rectangular section. See File.

– Flat nail, a small, sharp-pointed, wrought nail, with a flat, thin head, larger than a tack. Knight.

– Flat paper, paper which has not been folded.

– Flat rail, a railroad rail consisting of a simple flat bar spiked to a longitudinal sleeper.

– Flat rods (Mining), horizontal or inclined connecting rods, for transmitting motion to pump rods at a distance. Raymond.

– Flat rope, a rope made by plaiting instead of twisting; gasket; sennit.

Note: Some flat hoisting ropes, as for mining shafts, are made by sewing together a number of ropes, making a wide, flat band. Knight.

– Flat space. (Geom.) See Euclidian space.

– Flat stitch, the process of wood engraving. [Obs.] -- Flat tint (Painting), a coat of water color of one uniform shade.

– To fall flat (Fig.), to produce no effect; to fail in the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat. Of all who fell by saber or by shot, Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott. Lord Erskine.

Flat, adv.

1. In a flat manner; directly; flatly. Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty. Herbert.

2. (Stock Exchange)

Definition: Without allowance for accrued interest. [Broker's Cant]

Flat, n.

1. A level surface, without elevation, relief, or prominences; an extended plain; specifically, in the United States, a level tract along the along the banks of a river; as, the Mohawk Flats. Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a flat. Bacon.

2. A level tract lying at little depth below the surface of water, or alternately covered and left bare by the tide; a shoal; a shallow; a strand. Half my power, this night Passing these flats, are taken by the tide. Shak.

3. Something broad and flat in form; as: (a) A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught. (b) A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned. (c) (Railroad Mach.) A car without a roof, the body of which is a platform without sides; a platform car. (d) A platform on wheel, upon which emblematic designs, etc., are carried in processions.

4. The flat part, or side, of anything; as, the broad side of a blade, as distinguished from its edge.

5. (Arch.)

Definition: A floor, loft, or story in a building; especially, a floor of a house, which forms a complete residence in itself.

6. (Mining)

Definition: A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal. Raymond.

7. A dull fellow; a simpleton; a numskull. [Colloq.] Or if you can not make a speech, Because you are a flat. Holmes.

8. (Mus.)

Definition: A character [] before a note, indicating a tone which is a half step or semitone lower.

9. (Geom.)

Definition: A homaloid space or extension.

Flat, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flatted; p. pr. & vb. n. Flatting.]

1. To make flat; to flatten; to level.

2. To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress. Passions are allayed, appetites are flatted. Barrow.

3. To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.

Flat, v. i.

1. To become flat, or flattened; to sink or fal to an even surface. Sir W. Temple.

2. (Mus.)

Definition: To fall form the pitch. To flat out, to fail from a promising beginning; to make a bad ending; to disappoint expectations. [Colloq.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

26 April 2024

CITYSCAPE

(noun) a viewpoint toward a city or other heavily populated area; “the dominant character of the cityscape is it poverty”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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