flat
/flæt/
noun
Meaning
An area of level ground.
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. ♭♪).
A flat tyre/tire.
(in the plural) A type of ladies' shoes with very low heels.
"She liked to walk in her flats more than in her high heels."
(in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.
A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolor/watercolour painting.
The flat part of something:
A wide, shallow container or pallet.
"a flat of strawberries"
(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.
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.
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.
A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
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.
Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.
An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.
verb
Meaning
To make a flat call; to call without raising.
To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
To fall from the pitch.
To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
To make flat; to flatten; to level.
To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.
adjective
Meaning
Having no variations in height.
"The land around here is flat."
(voice) Without variations in pitch.
Having small or invisible breasts and/or buttocks.
"That girl is completely flat on both sides."
(note) Lowered by one semitone.
Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.
"Your A string is too flat."
(of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.
Uninteresting.
"The party was a bit flat."
(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.
Lacking acidity without being sweet.
(of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.
(of a throw) Without spin; spinless.
Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; dull and boring.
"The dialogue in your screenplay is flat -- you need to make it more exciting."
Absolute; downright; peremptory.
"His claim was in flat contradiction to experimental results."
(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".
"Many flat adverbs, as in 'run fast', 'buy cheap', etc. are from Old English."
(of a golf club) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.
(of certain fruits) Flattening at the ends.
(authorship, especially of a character) Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.
"The author added a chapter to flesh out the books' flatter characters."
Fixed; unvarying.
"a flat fare on public transport"
Synonyms
adverb
Meaning
So as to be flat.
"Spread the tablecloth flat over the table."
Bluntly.
"I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat."
(with units of time, distance, etc) Not exceeding.
"He can run a mile in four minutes flat."
Completely.
"I am flat broke this month."
Directly; flatly.
Without allowance for accrued interest.
Synonyms