- flat
- [[t]flæ̱t[/t]]
♦♦flats, flatter, flattest1) N-COUNT: also N num A flat is a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor and part of a larger building. A flat usually includes a kitchen and bathroom. [mainly BRIT]
Sara lives with her husband and children in a flat in central London...
It started a fire in a block of flats...
Later on, Victor from flat 10 called.
Syn:(in AM, usually use apartment)2) ADJ-GRADED Something that is flat is level, smooth, or even, rather than sloping, curved, or uneven.Tiles can be fixed to any surface as long as it's flat, firm and dry...
After a moment his right hand moved across the cloth, smoothing it flat.
...windows which a thief can reach from a drainpipe or flat roof...
The sea was calm, perfectly flat.
3) ADJ: ADJ n, v-link ADJ, ADJ after v Flat means horizontal and not upright.Two men near him threw themselves flat...
As heartburn is usually worse when you're lying down in bed, you should avoid lying flat.
4) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A flat object is not very tall or deep in relation to its length and width.Ellen is walking down the drive with a square flat box balanced on one hand. It's a health food pizza, she declares.
Syn:Ant:5) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n, v-link ADJ, ADJ after v Flat land is level, with no high hills or other raised parts.To the north lie the flat and fertile farmlands of the Solway plain...
The landscape became wider, flatter and very scenic...
The highway stretched out flat and straight ahead.
Derived words:flatness N-UNCOUNTNotice the flatness and the rich, red earth.
6) N-COUNT: usu pl, usu n N A low flat area of uncultivated land, especially an area where the ground is soft and wet, can be referred to as flats or a flat.The salt marshes and mud flats attract large numbers of waterfowl.
7) N-COUNT: usu sing, the N of n You can refer to one of the broad flat surfaces of an object as the flat of that object.He slammed the counter with the flat of his hand.
...eight cloves of garlic crushed with the flat of a knife.
8) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n Flat shoes have no heels or very low heels.People wear slacks, sweaters, flat shoes, and all manner of casual attire for travel.
Ant:N-PLURALFlats are flat shoes. [AM]His mother looked ten years younger in jeans and flats like a teenager.
9) ADJ-GRADED A flat tyre, ball, or balloon does not have enough air in it.10) N-COUNT A flat is a tyre that does not have enough air in it.Then, after I finally got back on the highway, I developed a flat.
11) ADJ-GRADED A drink that is flat is no longer fizzy.Could this really stop the champagne from going flat?
Ant:12) ADJ-GRADED A flat battery has lost some or all of its electrical charge. [mainly BRIT]His car alarm had been going off for two days and, as a result, the battery was flat.
Ant:(in AM, use dead)13) ADJ-GRADED If you have flat feet, the arches of your feet are too low.The condition of flat feet runs in families.
14) ADJ: ADJ n A flat denial or refusal is definite and firm, and is unlikely to be changed.The Foreign Ministry has issued a flat denial of any involvement...
She is likely to give you a flat refusal.
Derived words:flatly ADV usu ADV with v, also ADV adjMichael flatly denied virtually every rumour...
He flatly refused to discuss it...
I could use some money, Sarah told him flatly.
15) ADJ: num n ADJ (emphasis) If you say that something happened, for example, in ten seconds flat or ten minutes flat, you are emphasizing that it happened surprisingly quickly and only took ten seconds or ten minutes.`You're sitting behind an engine that'll move you from 0 to 60mph in six seconds flat...
I had it all explained to me in two minutes flat.
16) ADJ: ADJ n A flat rate, price, or percentage is one that is fixed and which applies in every situation.Fees are charged at a flat rate, rather than on a percentage basis...
Sometimes there's a flat fee for carrying out a particular task...
Medicare is preparing to cut all payments by a flat 2%.
Syn:Ant:17) ADJ-GRADED If trade or business is flat, it is slow and inactive, rather than busy and improving or increasing.During the first eight months of this year, sales of big pickups were up 14% while car sales stayed flat...
For the country overall, house prices have remained flat.
Syn:Ant:active, busy18) ADJ-GRADED If you describe something as flat, you mean that it is dull and not exciting or interesting.The past few days have seemed comparatively flat and empty...
It is a long time since a party leader delivered such a dreadfully flat speech as he did yesterday.
Derived words:flatness N-UNCOUNTKenworthy detected a certain flatness in the days that followed.
19) ADJ-GRADED You use flat to describe someone's voice when they are saying something without expressing any emotion.`Whatever you say,' he said in a deadly flat voice. `I'll sit here and wait.'...
Her voice was flat, with no question or hope in it.
Derived words:20) ADJ: n ADJ Flat is used after a letter representing a musical note to show that the note should be played or sung half a tone lower than the note which otherwise matches that letter. Flat is often represented by the symbol flat after the letter....Schubert's B flat Piano Trio (Opus 99).
Ant:21) ADV-GRADED: ADV after v If someone sings flat or if a musical instrument is flat, their singing or the instrument is slightly lower in pitch than it should be.Her vocal range was, to say the least of it, limited, and she had a distressing tendency to sing flat.
Ant:ADJ-GRADEDFlat is also an adjective.He had been fired because his singing was flat.
22) PHRASE: v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that something is as flat as a pancake, you are emphasizing that it is completely flat.My home state of Illinois is flat as a pancake...
The economy is still as flat as a pancake.
23) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR on n If you fall flat on your face, you fall over.A man walked in off the street and fell flat on his face, unconscious.
24) PHRASE: V inflects If an event or attempt falls flat or falls flat on its face, it is unsuccessful.Liz meant it as a joke but it fell flat...
If it wasn't for the main actress, Ellen Barkin, the plot would have fallen flat on its face.
Syn:25) PHRASE: v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that you are flat broke, you mean that you have no money at all. [INFORMAL]Two years later he is flat broke and on the dole.
Syn:26) PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n If you do something flat out, you do it as fast or as hard as you can.Everyone is working flat out to try to trap those responsible...
They hurtled across the line in a flat-out sprint.
Syn:27) PHRASE: PHR n/adj, PHR with v (emphasis) You use flat out to emphasize that something is completely the case. [mainly AM, INFORMAL]That allegation is a flat-out lie...
They say the industry is flat out lying about the effects of deregulation.
Syn:utter, complete28) PHRASE On the flat means on level ground.He had angina and was unable to walk for more than 200 yards on the flat.
English dictionary. 2008.
