flats

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of flat.

   She wore comfortable flats instead of heels to the wedding.

   The salt flats stretched white and empty toward the horizon.

   Note

   A regular plural that gathers very different nouns under one spelling. Tidal and salt flats are level ground, often under shallow water. Musicians write flats with the symbol ♭, a semitone below the natural. Football coaches send players into the flats, the zones beside the formation behind the line of scrimmage. The same spelling also serves the present-tense verb, so the surrounding words decide which one is meant.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of flat.

   The trumpet player flats the high notes whenever the part gets demanding.

   The choir director winces every time the tenor flats his entrance.

   Note

   A form that works in two constructions in music. With an object, a player flats a note, lowering it, especially by a half tone. Without one, a singer who flats is falling from the pitch, a colloquial use. Card players have a slang use of their own: someone who flats calls without raising. The older meanings, leveling a surface or making something dull and spiritless, are now dated.

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