Flat

Flat
Flat Flat (fl[a^]t), a. [Compar. {Flatter} (fl[a^]t"r[~e]r); superl. {Flattest} (fl[a^]t"t[e^]st).] [Akin to Icel. flatr, Sw. flat, Dan. flad, OHG. flaz, and AS. flet floor, G. fl["o]tz stratum, layer.] 1. Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane. [1913 Webster]

Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! --Milton. [1913 Webster]

I feel . . . my hopes all flat. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

3. (Fine Arts) Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest. [1913 Webster]

A large part of the work is, to me, very flat. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]

4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste. [1913 Webster]

5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition. [1913 Webster]

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat. [1913 Webster]

7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.

Syn: flat-out. [1913 Webster]

Flat burglary as ever was committed. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

A great tobacco taker too, -- that's flat. --Marston. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

9. (Phonetics) Sonant; vocal; -- applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant. [1913 Webster]

10. (Golf) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft; -- said of a club. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

11. (Gram.) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, 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, are from AS. adverbs in -["e], the loss of this ending having made them like the adjectives. Some having forms in ly, such as exceeding, wonderful, true, are now archaic. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

12. (Hort.) Flattening at the ends; -- said of certain fruits. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{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. [1913 Webster]

Of all who fell by saber or by shot, Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott. --Lord Erskine. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • flat — flat …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • flat — flat1 [flat] adj. flatter, flattest [ME < ON flatr, akin to OHG flaz < IE * plāt, plēt , wide, flat (> Gr platys, broad, OE flet, floor) < base * plā , broad] 1. having a smooth, level surface; having little or no depression or… …   English World dictionary

  • flat — Ⅰ. flat [1] ► ADJECTIVE (flatter, flattest) 1) having a level and even surface. 2) not sloping. 3) with a level surface and little height or depth: a flat cap. 4) (of shoes) without high heels. 5) …   English terms dictionary

  • Flat — or flats may refer to:* Flatness * Flat (music), a symbol which denotes a lower pitch (music|flat) * Flat, an apartment within a residential building * Flat (geometry), the generalization of lines and planes in an n dimensional Euclidean space *… …   Wikipedia

  • flat — 〈[ flæ̣t] Mus.〉 um einen halben Ton erniedrigt, z. B. D flat = Des; Ggs sharp [engl., „flach, tief, erniedrigt“] * * * Flat [flɛt], die; , s (ugs.): Kurzf. von ↑ Flatrate. * * * flat   [flæt; …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Flat — (englisch für flach) steht für eine gerade Kante an der Seite eines Wafers, siehe Flat (Wafer) Flatrate, Pauschaltarif in der Telekommunikationsbranche Flat Tax, ein einstufiger Einkommensteuertarif Flattop, eine Frisur Flat ist Ortsname von:… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Flat — 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. [1913 Webster] Envy is as the sunbeams that… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • flat — adj, flat·ter; flat·test 1) being or characterized by a horizontal line or tracing without peaks or depressions <the EEG is ominously flat indicating that her brain function is gone (Don Gold)> 2) characterized by general impoverishment in… …   Medical dictionary

  • flat — ● flat adjectif masculin (ancien français flac, mou) Se dit d un ver à soie atteint de flacherie. ● flat nom masculin (anglais flat, appartement) En Belgique, petit appartement, studio. ● flat (homonymes) nom masculin (anglais flat, appartement) …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • flat — flat, flatly The dominant adverbial form flatly is always used figuratively with words of denial and rejection such as contradict, deny, oppose, refuse, and reject. Flat is used in fixed expressions such as flat broke and turn something down flat …   Modern English usage

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