flat

Etymology 1

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt. The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.

adj

1. Having no variations in height.
   1. In a horizontal line or plane; not sloping.
      a flat roof
   2. Smooth; having no protrusions, indentations or other surface irregularities, or relatively so.
      The surface of the mirror must be completely flat.
      The carpet isn't properly flat in that corner.
      She has quite a flat face.
      The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. …. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess
   3. (slang) Having small or invisible breasts and/or buttocks.
      That girl is completely flat on both sides.
2. Without variation in level, quantity, value, tone etc.
   1. At a consistently depressed level; consistently lacklustre.
      Sales have been flat all year, and we've barely broken even.
   2. (not comparable, commerce) Of fees, fares etc., fixed; unvarying.
      a flat fee
      flat rates
      a flat fare on public transport
   3. (music, voice) Without variations in pitch.
      He delivered the speech in a flat tone.
   4. (of colours) Without variation in tone or hue (uniform), and dull (not glossy).
      The walls were painted a flat gray.
3. (figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.
   The party was a bit flat.
   The market is flat today as most traders are on holiday.
   The dialogue in your screenplay is flat — you need to make it more exciting.
   February 16, 1833, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk A large part of the work is, to me, very flat.
   1. (authorship, figurative, especially of a character) Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.
      The author added a chapter to flesh out the book's flatter characters.
4. (music, note) Lowered by one semitone.
5. (music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.
   Your A string is flat.
6. Absolute; downright; peremptory.
   His claim was in flat contradiction to experimental results.
   I'm not going to the party and that's flat.
   A great Tobacco taker too, thats flat. 1602, John Marston, Antonio and Mellida, Malone Society Reprint, 1921, Act I, lines 324-326, He is made like a tilting staffe; and lookes For all the world like an ore-rosted pigge
7. (of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.
8. (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.
9. (wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.
10. (of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.
11. (juggling, of a throw) Without spin; spinless.
12. (phonetics, dated, of a consonant) Sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant.
13. (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.
14. (golf, of a golf club) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.
15. (horticulture, of certain fruits) Flattening at the ends.
16. (of measurements of time) Exact.
    He finished the race in a flat four minutes.

adv

1. So as to be flat.
   Spread the tablecloth flat over the table.
2. Bluntly.
   I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat.
3. (of accurately measured timings) Exactly, precisely.
   Dan Patch clocked a scorching 1:55.5 flat. 1996, Jon Byrell, Lairs, Urgers and Coat-Tuggers, Sydney: Ironbark, page 186
   In the mile race, Smith's time was 3:58.56, and Brown's was four minutes flat.
4. (with units of time, distance, etc) Used to emphasize the smallness of the measurement.
   He can run a mile in four minutes flat.
   Found my coat and grabbed my hat / Made the bus in seconds flat 1967, Lennon–McCartney (lyrics and music), “A Day in the Life”, in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
5. Completely.
   I am flat broke this month.
6. Directly; flatly.
7. (finance, slang) Without allowance for accrued interest.
   The bonds are trading flat.

noun

1. An area of level ground (sometimes covered with water).
   1. (in the phrase 'the flat') Level ground in general.
      I can run on the flat but not up hills.
      The going will be easier once we're through these mountains and onto the flat.
   2. (horse racing, with 'the' or attributively, sometimes with capital) Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.
      This horse will do better over the flat.
      flat racing, the flat season
      In light of Horse Racing Ireland's Covid-19 contingency plan announcement, that whenever racing resumes the Flat will be given priority, Elliott has decided to keep a number of talented jumpers on the go during the summer, with a view towards a dual-purpose campaign. 2020, Brian Sheerin, Racing Post, "Gordon Elliott maps out summer Flat campaigns for talented jumpers" (article) https://www.racingpost.com/news/gordon-elliott-maps-out-summer-flat-campaigns-for-talented-jumpers/431475
      2021 (retrieved), racing365.com, "Flat Racing Explained" https://racing365.com/flat-racing-explained/ In British horse racing, the classics are a series of horse races run over the flat (i.e. without jumps).
   3. (Australia, horse racing, with 'the' or attributively, sometimes with capital) the area in the centre of a racecourse.
      As forecast, Joe suspected nothing as he pottered round the flat in the sunshine, absorbed in the task of picking winners. 1963, George Blaikie, Scandals of Australia's Strange Past, Adelaide: Rigby Limited, page 117
2. (music) 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. ♭♪).
   The key of E♭ has three flats.
3. (informal, automotive) A flat tyre/flat tire.
   The next one surrendered his bike, only for that, too, to give him a second flat as he started the descent. July 15 2012, Richard Williams, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track, Guardian Unlimited
4. (in the plural) A type of ladies' shoe with a very low heel.
   She liked to walk in her flats more than in her high heels.
5. (in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.
6. (painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolour painting.
7. The flat part of something:
   1. (swordfighting) The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.
   2. The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.
8. A wide, shallow container or pallet.
   a flat of strawberries
9. (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.
10. (rail transport, US) A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.
    For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels. Accordingly, automobiles aboard piggyback flats are usually coupled into the train 15 or more cars behind the locomotive; and telltales have been raised. 1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684
11. A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.
12. (geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.
13. A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.
14. A flat sheet for use on a bed.
    You might think that Americans buy roughly the same number of fitted sheets as flats. Or, considering the market for electric blankets, duvets, and other covers, that consumers buy even more bottom sheets, simply forgoing the tops. 1986, New York Magazine, volume 19, number 49, page 20
15. (publishing) A flat, glossy children's book with few pages.
    This same publisher notes pricing is a crucial factor in the mass market field of $1, $1.95 and $2.95 "flats." 1970, The Publishers Weekly, volume 197, page 85
16. A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.
17. (mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
18. (technical, theatre, stagecraft) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin, often produced in standard modules, that is used to build wall surfaces on stage. Flats can be painted and outfitted with doors and/or windows to depict a building or other part of a scene. It's a hard-surfaced alternative to a backcloth or backdrop.
19. (entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.
20. (historical) An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.
    Among the many US museums hosting flats, we may mention the Toy Soldier Museum in the Pocono Mountains, supervised by the historian, collector and dealer J. Hillestad. 2019, Luigi Toiati, The History of Toy Soldiers, page 78
21. (obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.
    […] if you cannot make a speech, Because you are a flat, Go very quietly and drop A button in the hat! 1836, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Music-Grinders
22. Short for flat ride (“spinning amusement ride”).
23. (optics) A flat (i.e. plane) mirror
    When sampling the aperture of a telescope, using auto-collimating flats (ACFs) is more economical April 1 2013, Spechler et al., “Advanced Dispersed Fringe Sensing Algorithm for Coarse Phasing Segmented Mirror Telescopes”, in NASA Tech Briefs, retrieved 2021-12-27
24. (gambling, slang) A cheater's die with the edges shaved to make certain rolls more likely.
    He would slip in his six-ace flats, shaved dice that were made to bring up sevens. He'd throw them just long enough to get well, and then replace them with legitimate cubes. 2005, Fred Cicetti, Local Angles: The Big News in Small Towns, page 78

verb

1. (poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without raising.
2. (intransitive) To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
3. (intransitive, music, colloquial) To fall from the pitch.
4. (transitive, music) To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
5. (transitive, dated) To make flat; to flatten; to level.
   The pods, which seldom contain less than thirty nuts of the size of a flatted olive, grow upon the stem and principal branches. 1764, James Granger, The Sugar-Cane: a Poem. In Four Books. With Notes., M.D., Book 1, page 44, note to verse 605
6. (transitive, dated) To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.

Etymology 2

From 1795, alteration of Scots flet (“inner part of a house”), from Middle English flet (“dwelling”), from Old English flet, flett (“ground floor, dwelling”), from Proto-Germanic *flatją (“floor”), from Proto-Germanic *flataz (“flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”). Akin to Old Frisian flet, flette (“dwelling, house”). More at flet, flat₁.

noun

1. (chiefly Britain, New England, New Zealand and Australia, archaic elsewhere) An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.
   The excellence of French flats is so well known in America, that the owner will often refer to his property as "first class French flats." 1905, Sydney Perks, Residential flats of all classes, including artisans' dwellings: a practical treatise on their planning and arrangement, together with chapters on their history, financial matters, etc.,with numerous illustrations, page 204
   A kiss may be grand but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat or help you at the automat. 1953-01-01, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, in My Heart Belongs to Daddy, performed by Marilyn Monroe
   [NICELY]When you meet a gent paying all kinds of rent for a flat that could flatten the Taj Mahal. [BOTH]Call it sad, call it funny but it’s better than even money that the guy’s only doing it for some doll. 1955-11-03, “Guys and Dolls”, in Guys and Dolls (Original Broadway Cast Recording), performed by Stubby Kaye (as Nicely Nicely Johnson) and Johnny Silver (as Benny Southstreet)
   Fifteen percent of this group said that they were not satisfied with the public housing estates and their HDB flats (see Tables 11 and 12 respectively). 1983, Tai Ching Ling, “Relocation and Population Planning: A Study of the Implications of Public Housing and Family Planning in Singapore”, in Wilfredo F. Arce, Gabriel C. Alvarez, editors, Population Change in Southeast Asia, page 184
   The Greater London Council formed the Estmanco company to manage a block of 60 council-owned flats. The council entered into an agreement with the company to sell off the flats to owner-occupiers. 2002, MIchael Ottley, Briefcase on Company Law, page 76
   When the Dolphin Square's flats were first offered to the public in 1936, the South Block was still under construction, and the North Block was a building site. 2014, Terry Gourvish, Dolphin Square: The History of a Unique Building, page 75
   Of course, closure of the West station took away the hotel's raison d'être. In May 2012, the local newspaper reported that this historic hotel, by then rated the town's worst (exemplified by its final review: "Please avoid at all costs"), was to be converted into 31 first-time-buyer one-bedroom flats. December 29 2021, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60

Etymology 3

From Middle English flatten, from Old French flatir (“to knock or strike down, dash”), from Frankish *flattjan (“to move the palm of the hand”), from Proto-Germanic *flatjaną (“to make flat, flatten”).

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To beat or strike; pound
2. (transitive) To dash or throw
3. (intransitive) To dash, rush