# flat

Pronunciation: say "FLAT" /flæt/

## Adjective

1. Having a level, even surface, without slopes, bumps, or hollows.
   - Simple: Level and smooth, with no parts higher or lower than the rest.
   - _The salt pan lay flat all the way to the horizon._
   - _Builders prefer flat lots that need little grading._
2. Much wider than it is high or deep, as a box, a stone, or a noodle can be.
   - Simple: Wide and thin, not very tall or deep for its size, like a box, a stone, or a noodle.
   - _The painting shipped in a large flat crate that just squeezed through the doorway._
   - _The kids searched the beach for the flattest pebbles they could find to skip across the water._
4. Of fees, fares, or charges, fixed at a single amount and not varying.
   - Simple: Of a price or fee, set at one fixed amount that does not change.
   - _The service comes with a flat monthly fee regardless of usage._
   - _Riders pay a flat fare anywhere within the city limits._
6. Staying at the same level, without rising or falling; showing no growth.
   - Simple: Not going up or down, but staying the same and not growing.
   - _Mortgage rates held flat at six percent for most of the summer._
   - _Sales stayed flat in the third quarter despite the new advertising campaign._
7. Having lost air pressure, especially through a puncture.
   - Simple: Having lost its air, usually because of a hole or puncture.
   - _She noticed the tire was flat before setting out on the long drive._
   - _A hidden nail left the rear tire completely flat overnight._
10. Lacking liveliness, interest, or feeling; dull, and (of a voice or delivery) without expression or change in tone.
   - Simple: Dull and without life or feeling, like a voice that never goes up or down.
   - _The performance was flat, drawing only polite applause from the audience._
   - _After weeks of bad news, the whole office felt strangely flat._
14. Of a drink, having lost most of its carbon dioxide so that it no longer fizzes or holds bubbles.
   - Simple: Of a drink, no longer fizzy because the bubbles are gone.
   - _The champagne had gone flat by the time the toast began._
   - _She poured out the flat tonic and opened a fresh bottle._
12. Of an image or visual style, giving shapes little or no appearance of depth or solidity.
   - Simple: Used about a picture or a style of art that shows little or no depth, so things do not look solid.
   - _The app's flat design drops the shadows and gradients that made the old icons look like buttons._
   - _The studio lights were too even, and the product photos came out flat, with no sense of shape._
13. Of a color, uniform in tone or hue and dull rather than glossy.
   - Simple: Of a color, the same all over and not shiny.
   - _We painted the bedroom ceiling a flat white to hide the cracks._
   - _The stealth drone was coated in a flat gray that reflected almost no light._
17. Absolute and firm; allowing no argument, exception, or qualification.
   - Simple: Complete and firm, allowing no argument or change.
   - _The board issued a flat denial of all the accusations._
   - _Management met the union's demands with a flat rejection._
18. Thinly drawn and one-dimensional, without the depth or substance to be believable.
   - Simple: Lacking depth, so a character or story feels weak and unconvincing.
   - _Reviewers complained that the novel's protagonist remained flat throughout, never growing or surprising anyone._
   - _The screenplay's flat secondary characters dragged down an otherwise tense plot._
19. Of a pitch, lowered by one semitone from its natural form.
   - Simple: Lowered by one small musical step from the normal note.
   - _The key signature makes every B flat throughout the score._
   - _A flat seventh gives the chord its bluesy color._
21. Of a voice or note, sounding below the intended pitch.
   - Simple: Sounding a little lower than the right pitch, often by mistake.
   - _The choir drifted flat during the long final note._
   - _His guitar was flat, so he tuned each string back up._
22. Arranged in few or no tiers of rank, hierarchy, or nesting, said of organizations and of data structures.
   - Simple: Having few or no levels, like a company with few bosses or data with no groups inside other groups.
   - _The startup prides itself on being flat, with no middle managers between the founders and the engineers._
   - _A flat file keeps every record in a single table, with no tables nested inside others._
29. Of a battery or power source, unable to supply power; completely drained.
   - Simple: Of a battery, dead and no longer able to give any power.
   - _The car wouldn't start because the battery was flat._
   - _We left the headlights on and found the battery flat in the morning._
31. Of a coffee, having little froth and little milk.
   - Simple: Of coffee, made with little foam and not much milk.
   - _She switched from lattes to flat whites because she wanted less milk and a stronger taste of coffee._
   - _The latte arrived surprisingly flat, with almost no froth crowning the cup._
32. Exact; amounting to precisely the stated figure with nothing added.
   - Simple: Exact, with no amount above or below the stated figure.
   - _After tax, the groceries came to a flat forty dollars, not a cent more._
   - _She finished the 100 meters in a flat twelve seconds, her best time yet._
33. Of a wine, lacking acidity without being sweet.
   - Simple: Of wine, tasting dull because it has little sharpness and is not sweet.
   - _The sommelier called the Chardonnay flat, missing the bright acidity the vintage needed._
   - _Without enough acidity to balance its ripe fruit, the chardonnay tasted flat on the finish._
34. Of food, dull to the taste and short on flavor, often from too little salt or acid.
   - Simple: Used about food that has little taste, often because it needs more salt or something sour.
   - _The stew tasted flat, so the cook stirred in a splash of vinegar and another pinch of salt._
   - _The reviewer found the curry oddly flat, as if someone had forgotten to season it at all._

## Noun

3. A self-contained home occupying only part of a building, especially one rented rather than owned. *(British, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore)*
   - Simple: A home that takes up only part of a larger building, often one that people rent.
   - _The couple moved into a one-bedroom flat above the shop._
   - _Several flats in the building share a back garden._
9. A woman's shoe built with a very low heel or none at all.
   - Simple: A woman's shoe with a very low heel or no heel at all.
   - _For the long commute she swapped her stilettos for a pair of flats._
   - _Designers showed a pointed-toe flat as the season's understated alternative to heels._
11. A stretch of level ground, which may be covered by shallow water or by the tide.
   - Simple: A wide piece of low, level land, sometimes covered by shallow water.
   - _At dawn the tidal flat teemed with wading birds._
   - _The salt flats stretched white to the horizon._
15. A tire that has lost its air pressure, typically because of a puncture. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A tire that has lost its air, usually from a hole.
   - _He changed the flat in the pouring rain by the roadside._
   - _Two flats in one week left her stranded both times._
16. A musical note sounded one semitone lower than the natural note, written with the ♭ symbol.
   - Simple: A musical note played one small step lower than the normal note.
   - _He kept missing the flats in the second line, playing B natural where the music called for B flat._
   - _Hold that flat a little longer before the melody climbs back up._
23. The main flat surface of an object, such as the broad side of a bale.
   - Simple: The widest flat part or side of something.
   - _The mason set each stone on its flat so the low wall would stay steady._
   - _She slapped the counter with the flat of her hand to get everyone's attention._
24. In horse racing, courses of level ground with no jumps to clear, or the racing run on them; usually with the.
   - Simple: In horse racing, level ground with no jumps, or the races run on it.
   - _After two falls over hurdles, the mare was switched back to the flat._
   - _The trainer has twenty horses getting ready for the Flat this summer._
25. A broad, low-sided tray, box, or pallet, such as one holding a quantity of berries.
   - Simple: A wide, low box or tray for carrying things like fruit.
   - _We picked up a flat of strawberries from the farm stand for the party._
   - _The nursery sells flats of pansies, twelve plants to a tray._
26. In American football, the area on either side of the field from the line of scrimmage to about ten yards downfield, between the hash marks and the sideline.
   - Simple: In American football, the space near each sideline, just past the line where play starts.
   - _The running back slipped out into the flat and caught a short pass._
   - _Their linebackers were slow to cover the flats all afternoon._
27. Level ground as opposed to hills or climbs, used with the.
   - Simple: Level ground in general, where there are no hills or slopes.
   - _Riders who are quick on the flat often lose minutes once the road starts to climb._
   - _The new runners trained on the flat for a month before trying any hill work._
28. Ellipsis of flat water: still drinking water, as opposed to sparkling water. *(US)* — Ellipsis of flat water (“nonfizzy drinking water”).
   - Simple: Short for flat water. It means still drinking water with no bubbles.
   - _The waiter asked whether we preferred sparkling or flat._
   - _Most of the table wanted sparkling, but Dana stuck with flat because bubbles upset her stomach._

## Adverb

5. In a manner that lies level and even against a surface.
   - Simple: In a way that lies level and even, with no bumps.
   - _He folded the cardboard flat to fit it in the recycling bin._
   - _The storm knocked the wheat flat across the entire field._
8. Completely, firmly, or in a way that leaves no room for doubt.
   - Simple: Completely, or in a firm, clear way that leaves no doubt.
   - _He rejected the proposal flat, without a moment's thought._
   - _They were flat broke by the end of the trip._
20. Used after a stated time to mean exactly that and no more, or simply to stress how quick something was, as in seconds flat.
   - Simple: Used after a time to mean exactly that long, or to show that something was done very quickly.
   - _The sprinter finished in ten seconds flat._
   - _They sold every ticket in a week flat._

## Verb

30. To lower a musical note in pitch, especially by half a tone.
   - Simple: To lower a musical note a little in pitch.
   - _Composers often flat the third to give a melody its bluesy color._
   - _Jazz players often flat the seventh to give a melody a bluesy edge._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To become flat or flattened, or to sink or fall until the surface is even.
- (verb) In poker, to call a bet, matching it without putting in a raise.
- (noun) A rectangular wooden frame covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin, often in standard modules, that forms part of a stage wall and can be painted or fitted with doors and windows.
- (adjective) Of a person's figure, lacking curves at the chest or rear.
- (adjective) Of a vowel, pronounced as a single steady sound rather than gliding like a diphthong.
- (adjective) Of a juggling throw, made so the object does not rotate in the air.
- (adjective) Of a consonant, voiced, as opposed to a voiceless or sharp one.
- (adjective) Of a word, carrying no ending or marker that shows its grammatical role, as in an adverb identical to its adjective (go slow) or a bare infinitive without 'to'.
- (adjective) Of a golf club, built with a low lie, the head meeting the handle at a wide angle.
- (adjective) Of certain fruits, broader than they are tall, with squashed-looking ends.
- (adjective) Of a module, such that tensoring with it keeps every exact sequence exact.
- (adjective) Of a ring homomorphism, making the target ring a flat module when viewed as a module over the source ring.
- (adjective) Of a morphism of schemes or ringed spaces, giving a flat ring homomorphism between stalks at every point.
- (adjective) Lacking sense, dim-witted.
- (adverb) With no early release on parole, of a prison term.
- (adverb) Of a bond's price or trade, quoted without adding the interest that has built up since the last payment.
- (noun) The infield inside a horse racing track.
- (noun) A light racing shoe with a thin, level sole and no spikes.
- (noun) A wide paintbrush with a squared-off tip, used with oils and watercolors.
- (noun) The broad face of a sword or knife, not its cutting edge.
- (noun) Your open hand on its inner side, from the wrist through the base of the fingers.
- (noun) In US postal terms, a large, thin piece of mail such as a big envelope, catalog or magazine, bigger than a letter but within set size limits.
- (noun) A railroad car consisting of an open platform with no roof or sides.
- (noun) A worn, flattened patch on a train wheel, caused by skidding.
- (noun) A shallow boat with a level bottom and no keel.
- (noun) In geometry, a subset of a higher-dimensional space that is itself a lower-dimensional Euclidean space, such as a line or plane.
- (noun) A woven hat of straw that is wide at the brim and shallow on top.
- (noun) A plain bedsheet with no elastic corners.
- (noun) A slim picture book for young readers, glossy and only a handful of pages long.
- (noun) A wheeled platform that carries decorative displays in a parade, like a float.
- (noun) In mining, a horizontal deposit branching off a main vein, or any level stretch of a vein that otherwise slopes.
- (noun) A skipper butterfly of a group known for resting with outspread wings.
- (noun) An early toy soldier made as a thin, two-dimensional figure, often of tin.
- (noun) A slow-witted or foolish person.
- (noun) A fairground ride that spins people around on a level base, short for flat ride.
- (noun) A plane mirror, one with a level rather than curved surface, as used in a telescope.
- (noun) A crooked die made slightly flat by shaving one face or a pair of opposite faces, so certain numbers come up more often.
- (noun) A case of 24 cans or bottles of beer.
- (verb) To sing or play below the correct pitch.
- (verb) To press or smooth something so that it lies level.
- (verb) To make something dull, flavorless or lifeless, or to lower someone's spirits.
- (verb) To hit something hard, with one blow or many.
- (verb) To fling something down violently.
- (verb) To rush forward with sudden speed.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4–34** — This comes from Middle English 'flat', borrowed from Old Norse 'flatr', from Proto-Germanic *flataz and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- meaning "flat"; it is related to Ancient Greek 'platús' and Sanskrit 'prathas'. The noun grew out of the adjective, and the algebraic sense was coined by Serre in 1956 as French 'plat'.
**Meaning 3** — Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- probably gave Proto-Germanic *flataz ("flat"), the source of *flatją ("floor"). That became Old English flet or flett ("ground floor, dwelling") and Middle English flet ("dwelling"), which survived as Scots flet ("inner part of a house"). The English word, recorded from 1795, is an altered form of the Scots one.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/flat (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).