flatbed

Etymology

flat + bed

noun

1. An open freight vehicle with no sides, designed to carry heavy or outsized loads.
2. A railway freight car with no sides; a flatcar.
   The Rotrac E2 shunter was built by German manufacturer Zwiehoff and has been subject to a 14-month trial to prove it can replace diesel traction for moving flatbed wagons in and out of the depot. December 29 2021, “Network News: DRS acquires compact electric shunter”, in RAIL, number 947, page 14, photo caption
3. (computing) A document scanner with a flat bed.

adj

1. Having a flat bed.
   I can't scan the whole document quickly because I only have a flatbed scanner.
   The accident left the contents of a flatbed trailer scattered across all three lanes.

verb

1. To transport by flatbed.
   Tatiana went from working the pulley that lifted the treadless tank and placed it on tread, to painting the red star on a finished tank ready to be flatbedded and put into production. 2000, Paullina Simons, The Bronze Horseman
   'Well, we won't know about prints till we can flatbed his SUV back to Middle Street and check, but given he left the car in a hurry, my guess is we'll find something, maybe quite a lot. 2011 -, James Hayman, The Cutting
   “I'm going to have to flatbed this vehicle,” Larry said with an air of importance that irritated Pytel. 2012, Rus Bradburd, Make It, Take It, page 23