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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Flat \Flat\ (fl[a^]t), adjective [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.
Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. --Milton.
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.
What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! --Milton.
I feel . . . my hopes all flat. --Milton.
3. (Fine Arts) Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest.
A large part of the work is, to me, very flat. --Coleridge.
4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.
5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. --Shak.
6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.
7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.
Syn: flat-out.
Flat burglary as ever was committed. --Shak.
A great tobacco taker too, -- that's flat. --Marston.
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.
9. (Phonetics) Sonant; vocal; -- applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.
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}, noun, 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.
Of all who fell by saber or by shot, Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott. --Lord Erskine.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
flat
adjective
1: having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another; "a flat desk"; "acres of level farmland"; "a plane surface" [syn: {level}, {plane}]
2: having no depth or thickness
3: not modified or restricted by reservations; "a categorical denial"; "a flat refusal" [syn: {categoric}, {categorical}, {unconditional}]
4: stretched out and lying at full length along the ground; "found himself lying flat on the floor" [syn: {prostrate}]
5: lacking contrast or shading between tones [ant: {contrasty}]
6: lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone; "B flat" [ant: {natural}, {sharp}]
7: flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes) [syn: {compressed}]
8: lacking taste or flavor or tang; "a bland diet"; "insipid hospital food"; "flavorless supermarket tomatoes"; "vapid beer"; "vapid tea" [syn: {bland}, {flavorless}, {flavourless}, {insipid}, {savorless}, {savourless}, {vapid}]
9: lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; "a bland little drama"; "a flat joke" [syn: {bland}]
10: having lost effervescence; "flat beer"; "a flat cola"
11: not increasing as the amount taxed increases [syn: {fixed}]
12: not made with leavening; "most flat breads are made from unleavened dough" [syn: {unraised}]
13: parallel to the ground; "a flat roof"
14: without pleats [syn: {unpleated}]
15: lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth; "a film with two-dimensional characters"; "a flat two-dimensional painting" [syn: {two-dimensional}]
16: (of a tire) completely or partially deflated
17: not reflecting light; not glossy; "flat wall paint"; "a photograph with a matte finish" [syn: {mat}, {matt}, {matte}, {matted}]
18: lacking variety in shading; "a flat unshaded painting"
noun
1: a level tract of land
2: a shallow box in which seedlings are started
3: a musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named
4: freight car without permanent sides or roof [syn: {flatcar}, {flatbed}]
5: a deflated pneumatic tire [syn: {flat tire}]
6: scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting
7: a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house [syn: {apartment}]
adverb
1: at full length; "he fell flat on his face"
2: with flat sails; "sail flat against the wind"
3: below the proper pitch; "she sang flat last night"
4: against a flat surface; "he lay flat on his back"
5: in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly; "he didn't answer directly"; "told me straight out"; "came out flat for less work and more pay" [syn: {directly}, {straight}] [ant: {indirectly}]
6: wholly or completely; "He is flat broke" [also: {flatting}, {flatted}, {flattest}, {flatter}]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
flattest See {flat}
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |