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单词 flat
释义

† flatn.1

Etymology: < Old French flat.
Obsolete.
A blow, buffet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow > specific on a person
buffet?c1225
flatc1320
boxc1330
rapc1330
plaguea1382
puncha1450
buffc1475
jowl?1516
beff1768
funk1790
fib1814
cob1828
one1876
biff1889
clump1889
one in the eye1891
conk1898
fourpenny one1936
a sock in the eye1972
kennedy-
c1320 Sir Beues 3432 Þe king of Scotlonde, wiþ is bat A ȝaf him swiche a sori flat Vpon þe helm.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 4910 Ther com the king Gvinbat, And gaf Gueheres swiche a flat.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

flatn.2

Brit. /flat/, U.S. /flæt/
Etymology: Alteration of flet n.1, influenced by flat adj., adv., and n.3 The word was until recently peculiar to Scotland, where the original form survived into the 19th cent.
1. A floor or storey in a house.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > floor or storey
stagea1300
storeyc1384
loft1526
floor1585
sollar1585
contignation1592
roof1600
flat1801
piano1835
row1873
level1968
1801 A. Ranken Hist. France I. 442 The houses consisted of several flats or stories.
1827 Ann. Reg. 143 A tenement, consisting of three flats.
1861 Morning Post 27 Nov. The numerous family..in the fourth flat.
1887 Times 27 Aug. 11/3 A fire broke out in a flat of the mill.
2. A suite of rooms on one floor, forming a complete residence. first, second, etc. flat: a suite on the first, second, etc. floor. In recent use, not necessarily a suite or a complete residence: also used even of one room with shared access to others.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > flat or apartment
mansion?c1400
tenement1593
apartmenta1645
basement storey1743
flat1824
house1885
basement flat1894
apt.1901
home unit1929
triplex1932
housing unit1935
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. v. 102 We chose to imitate some of the conveniences..of an English dwelling-house, instead of living piled up above each other in flats.
1845 C. I. Johnstone Edinb. Tales I. 267/2 That comfortable, airy, roomy, first-flat, consisting of dining-room, parlour, three bed~rooms.
1887 M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike II. iv. 44 The rents of these flats seem to be extortionate.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
flatdom n.
ΚΠ
1926 Glasgow Herald 2 Mar. 9 The centre of aristocratic flatdom has also the reputation of being the abiding place of all that is best in dogdom.
flat-house n.
ΚΠ
1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 14/1 Enormous ‘flat’ houses.
flat-land n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > other areas
friars1479
foreign1514
acropolis1570
sestiere1599
shopping district1837
downstreet1865
Latin Quarter1869
midtown1882
club-land1885
flat-land1889
brick area1895
turf1953
grey area1959
office park1963
bed-sitter-land1968
edge city1968
1889 E. Dowson Let. 16 Nov. (1967) 117 I shall be spending the next 40 hours or so in Flatland.
1901 Daily News 20 Apr. 4/5 An interesting study in flat-land was provided yesterday at the Royal Courts of Justice, when the owner of a block of flats sued a tenant for a quarter's rent.
1971 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) 3 Apr. 1/8 Within three years Johannesburg's congested flatland will have gained nearly 6500 new flats.
flat-law n.
ΚΠ
1894 Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. 2/2 She will settle a question of flat-law.
flat-lord n. [after landlord n. 1]
ΚΠ
1909 Westm. Gaz. 2 June 2/1 Its pious pretence is to warn simple flatlords against non-payers of rent.
flat-mate n.
ΚΠ
1960 Woman 5 Mar. 71/1 All the colourful tales your flat-mates tell you.
1965 K. Giles Some Beasts no More i. 18 One day he doesn't come home and his little flatmate eventually gets round to telling the coppers.
C2.
flat-builder n.
ΚΠ
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 May 6/3 The cunning way in which the flats are planned deserves study by all flat-builders.
flat-dweller n.
ΚΠ
1894 Daily News 4 Jan. 4/7 Flat-dwellers and Hygiene.
flat-holder n.
ΚΠ
1894 Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. 2/2 The defencelessness of the flat-holder has been found out.
C3.
flat-breaking n.
ΚΠ
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xxx. 289 These crimes of housebreaking and flatbreaking are far too common.
flat-dwelling n.
ΚΠ
1911 Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. 173 In the attics of these ‘flat’ dwellings there is a store for each tenant.
1937 Sunday Disp. 24 Jan. 2/1 So we resigned ourselves to flat-dwelling for ever.
1971 News of World 26 Sept. 8/7 Cats with access to gardens like to dose themselves regularly. It is hard on the flat dwelling cat when he cannot do so.
flat-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1920 J. Joyce Let. 11 Oct. (1966) III. 24 Am very busy flat hunting.
1924 A. Christie Poirot Investigates iii. 73 A horrid thing to do..but you know what flat-hunting is.
flat-letting n.
ΚΠ
1906 Westm. Gaz. 8 Feb. 5/1 Another firm of estate agents..stated that the outlook in the flat-letting business was anything but cheerful.
flat-warming n.
ΚΠ
1942 Penguin New Writing 15 70 Felix was giving a flat-warming.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

flatadj.adv.n.3

Brit. /flat/, U.S. /flæt/
Forms: Middle English–1600s flatte, (1800s dialect) flatt, Middle English– flat.
Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: Norse flatr.
Etymology: < Old Norse flatr (Swedish flat , Danish flad ) = Old High German flaȥ < Germanic *flato- . Compare flet n.1No certain cognates are known; connection with Old Aryan *plat-, plath- (Greek πλατύς, Sanskrit prthú, broad) is plausible with regard to the sense (compare French plat flat, believed to be ultimately < πλατύς), but the representation of Old Aryan t or th by Germanic t (except when reduced < tt after a long vowel) is anomalous. The synonymous German flach is unconnected.
A. adj.
I. Literal senses.
1.
a. Horizontally level; without inclination. Of a seam of coal: Lying in its original plane of deposition; not tilted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > [adjective]
even1340
flatc1440
level1559
horizontal1638
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [adjective] > and horizontal
flatc1440
plano-horizontal1760
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > [adjective] > lying flat
flatc1440
lyinga1450
prostrate1560
jacent1611
prone1785
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [adjective] > flat
flat1805
c1440 Prom. Parv. 164/1 Flatt, bassus vel planus.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 7326 He felle to þe flat erthe.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ix. 7 Thou all shaking thunder, smite flat The thicke Rotunditie of the world. View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 35 Houses..flat a-top.
1637 J. Milton Comus 13 Though Sun and Moon Were in the flat Sea sunck.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. vii. v. 6 As the common flat Mariners Compass doth divide the Horizon.
1805 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 268 The strata near the Esk are termed flat seams of coal.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ix. 62 I reached the flat summit of the rock.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. 557 In India..all buildings of any importance have flat roofs.
1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight ix. 133 A flat desk promotes a stooping position.
b. Architecture. flat arch (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > other types of arch
bowOE
craba1387
cove1511
triumphal arch (arc)a1566
straight arch1663
pointed arch1688
rough arch1693
jack-arch1700
oxi1700
raking arch1711
flat arch1715
scheme-arch1725
counter-arch1726
ox-eye arch1736
surbased dome1763
ogee1800
rising arch1809
sub-arch1811
deaf arch1815
four-centred arch1815
mixed arch1815
Tudor arch1815
camber1823
lancet arch1823
invert1827
platband1828
pier arch1835
ogive1841
scoinson arch1842
segment1845
skew arch1845
drop-arch1848
equilateral arch1848
lancet1848
rear arch1848
straining-arch1848
tierceron1851
shouldered arch1853
archlet1862
segment-arch1887
1715 J. Leoni tr. Palladio Archit. i. xxiv Arches..flat (those are call'd so, which are but a Section of a Circle).
1715 J. Leoni tr. Palladio Archit. i. xxv Certain Arches are turn'd over the Cornices of Doors and Windows, which Workmen call Flat-Arches, to prevent the Doors and Windows from being press'd with too much weight.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. v. 107 This Saxon style begins to be defined by flat and round arches.
1872 O. Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms Flat arch. An arch in which the sides of the voussoirs are cut so as to support each other, but their ends form a straight line top and bottom.
2. Spread out, stretched or lying at full length (esp. on the ground); rare, except in predicative use (often quasi-adverbial) with fall, fling, lay, lie, etc.
a. Chiefly of a person: Prostrate; with the body at full length. †Also in a flat fall.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of lying down or reclining > [adjective] > with body at full length
flatc1320
c1320 Sir Beues 1040 A felde him flat to grounde.
1399 W. Langland Richard Redeles ii. 183 [The birds] ffell with her ffetheris fflat vppon þe erthe..and mercy be-souȝte.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 23 Sche..flatt on þe ground cryed: ‘god..haue mercy on me!’
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 838 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 121 The golk..Fflang him flat in ye fyre.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xlix. E They shal fall before the wt their faces flat vpon the earth.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. ii. 16 I'le fall flat, Perchance he will not minde me. View more context for this quotation
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 138 None parting from him without flat falles, or apparant losse of honour.
1656 J. Smith Myst. Rhetorique Unvail'd 56 Thus a great wound is called a scratch; a flat fall, a foile.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 319 He laid me flat on the Ground.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 290 I order'd every Man..to lye flat upon their Bellies till we had receiv'd the Fire of the Enemy.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxx. 411 The hunter is flat and motionless.
1860 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (rev. ed.) iv. 72 I have seen a patient fall flat on the ground who was standing when his nurse came into the room.
1888 R. Kipling Daughter of Regiment in Plain Tales from Hills 179 That night a big wind blew..the tents flat.
b. Of a building or city: Level with the ground; also, levelled, overthrown.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [adverb] > flat
flat1560
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [adjective] > demolishing > demolished or ruined
razed?1518
flat1560
prostrate1560
overthrown1579
uplaid1582
demolished1609
fight-rac't?1611
collapsed1620
slighted1656
flatted1681
wrecked1818
fallen1821
torn-down1933
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > lack of height > [adjective] > level with the ground
flat1560
1560 Bible (Geneva) Josh. vi. 20 The wall fell downe flat.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 203 That is the way to lay the Citie flat . View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 360 What ruins Kingdoms, and lays Cities flat . View more context for this quotation
1692 R. South 12 Serm. I. 221 That Christ-Church stands so high above ground, and that the Church of Westminster lies not flat upon it, is [etc.].
figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. iv. 21 To fortifie her iudgement, which else an easie battery might lay flat . View more context for this quotation
c. Of things usually more or less erect or elevated.
ΚΠ
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 223 Cease to admire, and all her Plumes Fall flat . View more context for this quotation
figurative.1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 595 I feel..My hopes all flat . View more context for this quotation1684 T. Hockin Disc. God's Decrees 333 To raise our expectations of happiness high, and then to have them fall flat and low.
†d. Of a plant: Creeping, trailing on the ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [adjective] > climbing, spreading, or creeping
running1548
spreading1560
flat1578
ramping1578
wandering1590
upcreeping1611
gadding1638
rambling1653
obsequious1657
reptant1657
scansive1657
scansory1657
procumbent1668
repent1669
scandenta1682
supine1686
scrambling1688
creeping1697
sarmentous1721
reptile1727
sarmentose1760
prostrate1773
trailing1785
decumbent1789
travelling1822
vagrant1827
sarmentaceous1830
humifuse1854
sarmentiferous1858
amphibryous1866
humistratous1880
climbing1882
clambering1883
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lxxxvi. 127 Verbenaca supina..in English Base or flat Veruayne.
e. Lying in close apposition; with its whole length or surface in contact irrespectively of position. Nautical. Of a sail: flat aback or aft (see quot. 1815): said also of the vessel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adjective] > contiguous > against or close against
flat1559
adpressed1760
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 86 Placing my Instrument flat on th' earth.
1581 J. Maplet Diall Destiny f. 66 In theyr coursing they [Hares] apply their eares fast and flat to their backes.
1684 R. Howlett School Recreat. 138 Spreading your Net on the Ground smooth and flat.
1715 J. T. Desaguliers tr. N. Gauger Fires Improv'd 131 When it is open, it may be flat to the Chimney.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Aback Lay all flat Aback.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 76 Saucers dark green, lying flat on the leaves.
1815 W. Burney Falconer's New Universal Dict. Marine (rev. ed.) Flat aft, is the situation of the sails when their surfaces are pressed aft against the mast by the force of the wind.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast vi. 44 We found the vessel hove flat aback.
1885 H. J. Stonor in Law Times 80 119/1 The ladder was standing flat against the side wall.
f. Paper-making. Packed without folding.
ΚΠ
1890 C. T. Jacobi Printing xxxi. 249 A ream may be either ‘flat’, ‘folded’, or ‘lapped’.
g. Of the hand: Extended, not clenched.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adjective] > arm or hand > specific hand
flat1847
scooped1860
hollowed1884
steepled1971
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess ii. 41 The child Push'd her flat hand against his face and laugh'd.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 84 The brute Earl.., unknightly with flat hand, However lightly, smote her on the cheek.
h. Of relatively small curvature or inclination. spec. Of a golf-club: having the head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft; of a swing of the club: not upright, oblique.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > equipment > [adjective] > types of club
steel-shafteda1400
flat1857
grassed1857
lofted1887
pitching1891
the world > space > shape > curvature > [adjective] > slightly curved
flat1888
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [adjective] > type of swing
flat1909
1857 H. B. Farnie Golfer's Man. (1947) v. 27 Regarding the lie of a club for effecting distance, whether it should be flat or upright, little can be said..the rule being, the longer the club, the flatter the lie.
1887 D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. Flat, adj. A term in golfing, applied to a club of which the head is at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.
1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Flat sweep, a flat sweep or curve signifies one that is relatively of less curvature than others with which it may be compared.
1909 P. A. Vaile Mod. Golf i. 17 [One who plays an upright swing] will keep longer in the line of the ball's flight to the hole, and in the plane of its flight, than one who stands away from the ball and uses a flat swing.
1909 P. A. Vaile Mod. Golf iii. 32 A club with a lie which is too flat.
3. Without curvature or projection of surface.
a. Of land, the face of the country: Plain, level; not hilly or undulating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [adjective]
eveneOE
plainc1330
flatc1440
c1440 [see sense A. 1a].
1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. iv. f. 49 A Nacion..inhabiting vpon a flat shore.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 63 Thy..flat Medes thetchd with Stouer, them [Sheepe] to keepe. View more context for this quotation
1673 W. Temple Observ. United Provinces iii. 126 The whole Province of Holland is generally flat.
1748 tr. P. Lozano True Relation Earthquake Lima 2 This Town was built on a low flat Point of Land.
1836 J. Murray Hand-bk. for Travellers on Continent 68/1 High dykes..protect the flat country from inundations.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany xii. 202 The country became more and more flat.
b. Of a surface: Without curvature, indentation, or protuberance; plane, level.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [adjective]
eveneOE
plainc1330
platc1395
planirc1450
level1538
flat1551
evenlya1586
plane1666
unraised1694
planary1724
dead1782
flush1791
square1814
billiard-table1887
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Ivv When they se the grounde beaten flatte round about.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 47 As touchyng your opinion, that th' Earth is flat, I will prove it to be rounde.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xxxvi. 159 b Not any carved images of saints..but on flat pictures painted.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 262 The flat face of the Rocke.
1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 29 That makes the Moulding flatter, this more circular.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 32 To grind one surface perfectly flat, it is..necessary to grind three at the same time.
1824 ‘R. Stuart’ Descr. Hist. Steam Engine 179 The flat face to which the blocks are ground.
1882 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Chest, flat. A chest which has lost its rounded front.
c. Of the face or nose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > types of face > [adjective]
flatc1400
hardc1400
low-cheeredc1400
large?a1425
ruscledc1440
well-visagedc1440
platter-faced1533
well-faced1534
full-faced1543
fair-faced1553
bright-faceda1560
crab-faced1563
crab-snouted1563
crab-tree-faced1563
long-visaged1584
owlya1586
wainscot-faced1588
flaberkin1592
rough-hewn1593
angel-faced1594
round-faced1594
crab-favoured1596
rugged1596
weasel-faced1596
rough-faced1598
half-faced1600
chitty1601
lenten-faced1604
broad-faced1607
dog-faced1607
weaselled-faced1607
wry-faced1607
maid-faced1610
warp-faced1611
ill-faceda1616
lean-faceda1616
old-faceda1616
moon-faced1619
monkey-faced1620
chitty-face1622
chitty-faceda1627
lean-chapt1629
antic-faced1635
bloat-faced1638
bacon-facea1640
blue-faced1640
hatchet-faced1648
grave1650
lean-jawed1679
smock-faced1684
lean-visaged1686
flaber1687
baby-faced1692
splatter-faced1707
chubby1722
puggy1722
block-faced1751
haggard-looking1756
long-faced1762
haggardly1763
fresh-faced1766
dough-faced1773
pudding-faced1777
baby-featured1780
fat-faced1782
haggard1787
weazen-face1794
keen1798
ferret-like1801
lean-cheeked1812
mulberry-faced1812
open-faced1813
open-countenanced1819
chiselled1821
hatchety1821
misfeatured1822
terse1824
weazen-faced1824
mahogany-faced1825
clock-faced1827
sharp1832
sensual1833
beef-faced1838
weaselly1838
ferret-faced1840
sensuous1843
rat-faced1844
recedent1849
neat-faced1850
cherubimical1854
pinch-faced1859
cherubic1860
frownya1861
receding1866
weak1882
misfeaturing1885
platopic1885
platyopic1885
pro-opic1885
wind-splitting1890
falcon-face1891
blunt-featured1916
bun-faced1927
fish-faced1963
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > nose > [adjective] > types of nose
cammed?c1350
camoisc1380
snatteda1387
camoisedc1515
flat1560
hawked1577
rising1606
simous1634
aquiline1646
Roman1665
snoutya1685
suspense1697
rhinocerical1710
rhinocerotic1755
Bardolphian1756
cock-up1763
bridgeless1772
retroussé1802
snubbed1802
snubbish1828
snubby1828
snipish1834
snub1843
pugged1847
puggisha1849
tip-tilted1872
saddleback1897
beak-sharp1933
spitzy1968
c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 259 His face was ful brade & flat.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Lev. xxi. 18 A man..that hath a flat nose.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 158 Downe with the Nose, Downe with it flat, take the Bridge quite away. View more context for this quotation
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xii. 325 Their Faces are oval, their Foreheads flat.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. ii. iii. 178 A very flat, ill-favoured countenance.
1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 281 Their noses are broad and flat at top.
†d. flat numbers n. those corresponding to plane surfaces, i.e. numbers composed of two factors.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > produced in a certain way > produced by two or more factors
compound number1557
flat numbers1557
compound1597
figurate1614
plain number1704
plane number1704
composite number1727
1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Ciii Superficiall nombers, or Flatte nombers.
e. flat side (e.g. of a sword): opposed to the edge. Also to turn (a sword) flat.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > cut of sharp weapon > cut or thrust with sword > use or fight with sword [verb (intransitive)] > expose flat of sword
to turn (a sword) flata1440
the world > space > shape > bluntness > [noun] > blunt part or side
headc1300
platc1395
backc1440
poll1603
flat side1727
a1440 Sir Eglam. 1240 Syr Egyllamowre turnyd hys swerde flatt.
1727 W. Snelgrave Acct. Guinea (1734) 236 Lifted up his broad Sword, and gave me a Blow on the Shoulder with the flat side of it.
1832 G. R. Porter Treat. Manuf. Porcelain & Glass 226 The flat side..is to be turned towards the observer.
1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. i. iii. 42 Touching the smith with the flat side of his sword.
f. Having little projection from the adjacent surface. Rarely const. to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved surface > [adjective] > convex > having little convexity
plaina1393
flat1728
flattened1833
1728 A. Pope Dunciad ii. 27 With pert flat eyes she window'd well its head.
1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xiv. v. 672 It can now be discovered..by any eyes, however flat to the head.
g. flat tyre (U.S. tire): (a) a deflated or punctured tyre; also elliptical as flat; (b) U.S. a dull and spiritless person. Also flat wheel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > rubber or pneumatic tyre > flat
flat1923
flat tyre1923
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xvi. 218 I'm bound to say it isn't very often I find my own existence getting a flat tyre.
1925 H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp with Tourists xvi. 300 You think you're the berries, don't you? Well, you might have been once, but you're a flat-tire these days! You can't make the grade!
1927 New Republic 26 Jan. 277/2 He's a flat tire.
1929 ‘C. Walt’ Love in Chicago xv. 211 Stopping at the crossroads to see if I had a flat.
1934 J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice i. 6 I was in the filling station, fixing flats.
1942 ‘N. Shute’ Pied Piper 81 The driver wrestled to jack up the bus and get the flat wheel off.
h. Of the frequency response of an amplifier or other electronic device: uniform (over a certain range of frequencies); of a device: having such a response; amplifying, attenuating, or reproducing equally signals of all frequencies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > processes > [adjective] > concerning input or output > describing response
flat1926
slew1958
slewing1958
1926 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 281/2 A properly designed system is ‘flat’, i.e., indiscriminatory, over a sufficiently wide auditory band.
1949 J. G. Frayne & H. Wolfe Elem. Sound Recording xxix. 604 With this machine a frequency response flat within 2 db is obtained from 30 to 15,000 cycles.
1958 J. Tall Techniques Magn. Recording vi. 86 A flat amplifier is one that amplifies all frequencies equally.
1970 J. Earl How to choose Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 57 Trimmers across the bass and treble tone controls..make it possible to balance them for a ‘flat’ response when the controls are at the centre setting.
4. transferred.
a. in Painting. Without appearance of relief or projection. flat tint n. one of uniform depth or shade.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > qualities or styles of painting > [adjective] > other qualities or styles
plangent1666
dry1695
sticky1753
flat1755
spotty1798
touchy1809
definitive1815
edgy1825
painty1827
scratchy1827
unideal1838
tinglish1855
generalist1858
tinny1877
Christmas-cardy1883
tinty1883
surfacy1887
chocolate box1892
chocolate-boxy1894
Christmas card1895
juicy1897
candy box1898
pastose1901
busy1909
pompier1914
posterish1914
painterly1932
X-ray1940
illusional1942
all-over1948
figurative1960
hard-edge1961
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > paint > types of
oila1536
primera1650
wash1698
paint oil1727
flat tint1821
flat1823
flatting1823
distemper1837
kalsomine1840
oil filler1846
calcimine1864
tube-colour1881
Ripolin1899
gloss enamel1908
gloss paint1926
jelly paint1958
silicate paint-
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Flat, without relief, without prominence of the figures.
1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing ii. 95 Throwing every mass of shadow into a flat tint.
1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iii. 153 The pictures..were in their general appearance, flat, insipid, and uninteresting.
1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 18 The impossibility of spreading a flat tint on the vellum.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) III. 186 Pictures..flat, and deficient in light and shade, or brilliance.
b. Engraving. Wanting in sharpness; applied to a pull or impression of a plate which has received only the flat impression of the press without the overlay used to develop light and shade.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > [adjective] > quality of print
flat1888
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 44 Flat, an expression used to indicate excessive flatness in an illustration owing to want of light and shade in overlaying.
1888 [see flat-back n. at Compounds 2].
1897 H. W. Singer & W. Strang Etching 175 A ‘flat’ proof of a block as it comes from the photo~engraver generally shows itself to be in need of some touching up.
c. Of paint, lacquer, or varnish: lustreless, dull. (Cf. C. 12, flat v.2 8a, flatted adj.1 5.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > mat
matta1665
unglossy1822
flatted1851
flat1896
1896 N.E.D. at Flat v.2 8 To cover (a surface) with flat, i.e. lustreless, paint.
1935 H. R. Simonds Finishing Metal Products xxv. 263 There may be gloss or flat paint, or an intermediate semigloss frequently known as egg-shell paint.
1940 R. C. Martin Lacquer & Synthetic Enamel Finishes xii. 370 Clear or flat lacquers may then be used to a finish.
1951 H. W. Chatfield Gloss. Terms Paint Trades 115 Flat varnishes, lacquers, enamels, etc.
1953 Gloss. Paint Terms (B.S.I.) 27 The following stages in increasing order of gloss are normally recognized:—Flat (or matt)... Eggshell flat. Eggshell gloss.
1958 Woman 22 Feb. 2/1 Gloss, matt, flat, eggshell paints go over themselves or each other.
1971 Sci. Amer. Sept. 224/3 Coat the inside of the box with flat black paint.
d. Photography. Wanting in contrast.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > qualities and effects > [adjective] > contrast, etc.
greyed1730
strong1841
intense1879
contrasty1891
low key1897
flat1901
posterized1936
1901 G. E. Brown Finishing Negative vii. 66 Increasing contrasts..gives a ‘snap’ to otherwise flat negatives which is often very welcome.
1923 Kodak Mag. Mar. 36 From the negative least developed we shall get a print flat and grey with little difference between high light and shadow.
1953 T. L. J. Bentley Man. Miniature Camera (ed. 4) viii. 113 A negative may be so flat and deficient in printing density that straightforward printing will not yield an enlargement of acceptable quality.
5.
a. With additional notion: Having a broad level surface and little thickness. Of a foot: Touching the ground with the whole surface; but little arched.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being broad in relation to thickness > [adjective]
flatc1430
platy1539
vlat1602
platform1632
planulate1846
planular1858
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > foot > [adjective] > types of
long-footed1552
tender-footed1682
flat1697
round-heeled1772
neat-footed1870
cat-footed1883
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 29 Serue hem in almost flatte.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 312/2 Flatte as a thyng is that is brode.
1577–87 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1878) iii. iii. iii. 224 Of fishes..I find fiue sorts, the flat, [etc.].
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 58 Flat Wheate is..bearded and bordered with very rough and sharpe ailes, wherein consisteth the difference.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 247 They weare on their heads flat round Caps.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World iii. 49 The Booby is a Water-fowl,..her Feet are flat like a Ducks Feet.
1734 tr. P. L. M. de Maupertuis Diss. Cœlestial Bodies 65 in J. Keill Exam. Burnet's Theory of Earth (ed. 2) These conjectures concerning flat Stars..are rather the stronger.
1742 G. Leoni Notes I. Jones in N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture (ed. 3) II. iv. 44/1 Those great Pilasters in the Angle of the inside of the Temple are too flat.
1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper xiii. 279 To collar Flat Ribs of Beef.
1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. 34 This ruler consists of a flat piece of wood with a straight edge.
1859–74 Ld. Tennyson Vivien 348 May this hard earth cleave..and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress.
1882 Quain's Elements Anat. (ed. 9) I. 8 Tabular or flat bones, like the scapula, ilium, and the bones forming the roof and sides of the skull.
1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Flat File..is either a tapered or a parallel file.
†b. Of false dice: Broad and thin. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > dice-playing > [adjective] > of false dice
flatc1555
c1555 Manifest Detection Diceplay sig. Aiv A bale of flatte synke deuxis..A bale of flat cater trees.
1711 J. Puckle Club 30 Flats. Note, Dice flatter than they are long, to throw Trays and Quaters.
c. Of a blade, as opposed to ‘three-edged’.
d. Phrases: flat as a flawn, flat as a flounder, flat as a pancake (see those nouns).
e. Of a vessel: Wide and shallow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > setting table > table utensils > [adjective] > qualities of dish or cup
flat1471
footless1642
1471 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 242 I peluem laton voc' a flat basyn.
1492 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 75 My flatte gylte cuppe.
1533 C. Bedford in F. W. Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 27 John Bys the yonger a fflat cuppe of sylver.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Flatte bole for wine, ecpatala.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. ii. 5 A meate offering baken in a panne [margin. on a flat plate] . View more context for this quotation
II. Senses of figurative origin.
6.
a. Unrelieved by conditions or qualifications; absolute, downright, unqualified, plain; peremptory. Now chiefly of a denial, contradiction, etc., and in Shakespearean phrases, flat blasphemy, flat burglary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute
shirea1225
purec1300
properc1380
plainc1395
cleana1400
fine?a1400
entirec1400
veryc1400
starka1425
utterc1430
utterlyc1440
merec1443
absolute1531
outright1532
cleara1535
bloodyc1540
unproachable1544
flat1553
downright1577
sheer1583
right-down?1586
single1590
peremptory1601
perfecta1616
downa1625
implicit1625
every way1628
blank1637
out-and-outa1642
errant1644
inaccessional1651
thorough-paced1651
even down1654
dead1660
double-dyed1667
through stitch1681
through-stitched1682
total1702
thoroughgoing1719
thorough-sped1730
regular1740
plumb1748
hollow1751
unextenuated1765
unmitigated1783
stick, stock, stone dead1796
positive1802
rank1809
heart-whole1823
skire1825
solid1830
fair1835
teetotal1840
bodacious1845
raw1856
literal1857
resounding1873
roaring1884
all out1893
fucking1893
pink1896
twenty-four carat1900
grand slam1915
stone1928
diabolical1933
fricking1937
righteous1940
fecking1952
raving1954
1553 T. Wilson Rule of Reason (new ed.) sig. Qiiijv The aunswerer must stil vse flatte deniyng.
?1577 J. Northbrooke Spiritus est Vicarius Christi: Treat. Dicing 91 Whosoeuer taketh and keepeth the mony of another..sheweth himself a flat theefe.
1586 G. Pettie & B. Yong tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (rev. ed.) iv. f. 183 If I would tel you a flat lie, I wold say no.
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. H2v Why sir to be flat with you, you liue by your legges.
1615 Bp. J. Hall No Peace with Rome xi, in Recoll. Treat. 864 Who knowes not, that S. Homer, and S. Virgil are flat for it?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. ii. 135 That in the Captaine's but a chollericke word, Which in the Souldier is flat blasphemie. View more context for this quotation
1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher King & No King iv. sig. H4v This is my flat opinion, which Ile die in.
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 29 His Son Constantius prov'd a flat Arian.
1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13 I bring you not this as a flat command of Christ, but as my best Advice.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 304 A piece of flat Nonsense.
1713 J. Swift Apollo Outwitted vii She gave no flat denial.
1788 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 551 In flat contradiction to their Arret of December last.
1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. (new ed.) I. 97 He claimed to be put in possession..but met with a flat refusal.
1871 J. Morley J. de Maistre in Crit. Misc. 163 A flat impostor.
1888 R. Kipling Rout of White Hussars in Plain Tales from Hills 205 It's flat, flagrant disobedience!
b. In the conclusive expression, that's flat (a) formerly = that's the absolute, undeniable truth; (b) a defiant expression of one's final resolve or determination.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [phrase]
at the reverence of God1414
aye1576
that's flat1598
or my name is not ——1803
my eye1826
I'm a Dutchman1843
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > evident certainty > [adjective]
witterc1175
apert1340
clearc1380
plainc1395
apparentc1400
demonstrablea1425
demonstrate1509
sensible?1531
explicit1623
apodicticala1638
demonstrated1646
apodictic1652
flat1665
decided1757
distinct1828
the mind > language > statement > dogmatic assertion > [phrase]
that's flat1716
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iii. i. 98 The Boy hath sold him a bargaine, a Goose, that's flat . View more context for this quotation
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. ii. 39 Ile not march..with them, thats flat . View more context for this quotation
1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 120 Its the greatest Bogg of Europe..that's flat.
1716 J. Addison Drummer i. 1 I'll give Madam warning, that's flat.
1852 F. E. Smedley Lewis Arundel i. 15 ‘I won't, then, that's flat’, exclaimed Rachel.
c. Of a calm: Complete, ‘dead’.
ΚΠ
1651 J. Howell S.P.Q.V. 119 The wind..became..a flat calm.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xv. 415 It fell flat calm.
1880 A. Brassey Sunshine & Storm 34 Half an hour later it was a flat calm.
d. Impecunious, penniless. U.S. slang. (Cf. flat broke at broke adj. 3a.)
ΚΠ
1833 Sketches & Eccentricities D. Crockett (1834) 60 Retiring to bed, comfortably situated, he awoke next morning flat without a dollar.
1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Sept. 698/2 Satisfying his desires freely when he can, starving when he is ‘flat’.
e. to leave (a person) flat, to ‘drop’ suddenly and completely; to go away from.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away from [verb (transitive)] > go away from suddenly or hurriedly
fleeOE
to give the bag to1582
fling1588
vamoose1847
jump1875
skip1884
to leave (a person) flat1902
blow1912
scarper1937
1902 G. V. Hobart It's up to You ii. 37 Then they both chuckled and left me flat.
1919 in Saucy Stories Aug. 83/2 She got up enough spunk to leave him flat on Broadway. Lost him in the crowd... Refused to see him when he showed up.
1930 P. G. Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves iii. 85 He buzzed off, leaving me flat.
1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. i. 121 You meant my Johnny's going to leave me flat the minute the war's over.
7. Wanting in points of attraction and interest; prosaic, dull, uninteresting, lifeless, monotonous, insipid. Sometimes with allusion to sense A. 10.
a. of composition, discourse, a joke, etc. Also of a person with reference to his composition, conversation, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious
dreicha1300
alangec1330
joylessa1400
tedious1412
wearifulc1454
weary1465
laboriousa1475
tiresome?a1513
irksome1513
wearisome1530
woodena1566
irkful1570
flat1573
leaden1593
barren1600
soaked1600
unlively1608
dulla1616
irking1629
drearisome1633
drear1645
plumbous1651
fatigable1656
dreary1667
uncurious1685
unenlivened1692
blank1726
disinteresting1737
stupid1748
stagnant1749
trist?1756
vegetable1757
borish1766
uninteresting1769
unenlivening1774
oorie1787
wearying1796
subjectless1803
yawny1805
wearing1811
stuffy1813
sloomy1820
tediousome1823
arid1827
lacklustrous1834
boring1839
featureless1839
slow1840
sodden1853
ennuying1858
dusty1860
cabbagy1861
old1864
mouldy1876
yawnful1878
drab1880
dehydrated1884
interestless1886
jay1889
boresome1895
stodgy1895
stuffy1895
yawnsome1900
sludgy1901
draggy1922
blah1937
nowhere1940
drack1945
stupefactive1970
schleppy1978
wack1986
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 20 Mi over flat and homeli kind of writing.
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §lviii They haue prooved..poore and flatt in all other subjects.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 11 May (1970) III. 81 A dull, flat Presbiter preached.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 124. ¶2 We should complain of many flat Expressions.
1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. Introd. 16 Such strange Stories, as make the Voyages of those who come after..to look flat and insipid.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. vii. 156 The longest story of the flattest proser that ever droned.
1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk (1869) 2nd Ser. x. 204 The flattest thing of yours they can find.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 403 A rather flat treatment of trite themes.
1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xiii. 254 I am rather a flat teller of stories.
1889 County x, in Cornhill Mag. Mar. He is always appreciative of the flattest joke.
b. of one's circumstances, surroundings, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > of life or circumstances
flat1604
still1706
dullsville1960
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. ii. 133 How wary, stale, flat, and vnprofitable Seeme to me all the vses of this world. View more context for this quotation
1706 F. Atterbury Serm. Funeral Mr. Bennet 8 All Earthly Satisfactions must needs..grow flat and unsavory.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Fears in Solitude 4 How flat and wearisome they feel their trade.
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. xvii. 304 It was very flat to be left behind.
1884 Queen Victoria More Leaves 25 It seemed to strike me much less than when I first saw it, as all is flat now.
c. to fall flat (said of a composition, discourse, etc.): to prove unattractive, uninteresting, or ineffective; to fail in exciting applause or approval.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)]
withsitc1330
fail1340
defaulta1382
errc1430
to fall (also go) by the wayside1526
misthrive1567
miss1599
to come bad, or no, speedc1600
shrink1608
abortivea1670
maroon1717
to flash in the pan1792
skunk1831
to go to the dickens1833
to miss fire1838
to fall flat1841
fizzle1847
to lose out1858
to fall down1873
to crap out1891
flivver1912
flop1919
skid1920
to lay an egg1929
to blow out1939
to strike out1946
bomb1963
to come (also have) a buster1968
1841 T. B. Macaulay Warren Hastings in Edinb. Rev. Oct. 235 The best written defence must have fallen flat.
1860 C. Dickens Let. 23 Sept. (1997) IX. 315 All my news falls flat.
1885 C. L. Pirkis Lady Lovelace II. xxv. 80 The haranguing..fell as flat as the reasoning.
8. Deficient in sense or mental vigour; stupid, dull, slow-witted.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) Prol. 9 Pardon, Gentles all: The flat vnraysed Spirits, that hath dar'd..to bring forth So great an Obiect. View more context for this quotation
a1640 J. Ogle Parlie at Ostend in F. Vere Commentaries (1657) 158 Nor do I believe that..any of you judge me so flat, or so stupid.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 132 No dull Idolater was ere so flat In Things of deep and solid Weight.
1878 J. R. Seeley Life & Times Stein I. 312 I look for nothing from empty, slow, flat people.
9.
a. Wanting in energy and spirit; lifeless, dull. Also, out of spirits, low, dejected, depressed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective]
ungladc888
wearyc888
drearyc1000
dreary-moodOE
heavyc1000
unmerryOE
droopy?c1225
mournc1275
sada1300
languishinga1325
amayedc1330
matec1330
unlightc1330
unblissful1340
lowa1382
mishappyc1390
dullc1393
elengely1393
droopinga1400
heavy-hearteda1400
joylessa1400
sytefula1400
mornifc1400
tristy?c1400
lightless?1406
heartlessa1413
tristc1420
amatec1425
languoring?c1425
mirthlessc1430
heavisome1435
darkc1440
gloomingc1440
comfortlessc1460
amateda1470
chermatc1475
tristfula1492
lustless?1507
dolorous1513
ruthful1513
downcast1521
deject1528
heartsicka1529
lumpisha1535
coolc1540
dowlyc1540
glum1547
discouraged1548
uncheerfulc1555
dumpish1560
out of heart1565
sadded1566
amoped1573
tristive1578
desolated1580
dejected1581
à la mort1586
delightless1589
afflicted1590
gladless1590
groanful1590
gloomya1593
muddy1592
sitheful1592
cloudy1594
leaden-hearted1596
disconsolated1598
clum1599
life-weary1599
spiritless1600
dusky1602
chop-fallen1604
flat1604
disanimated1605
jaw-fallen1605
moped1606
chap-fallen1608
decheerful1608
uncheerful1612
lacklustrea1616
pulled1616
dumpya1618
depressed1621
head-hung1632
grum1640
downa1644
dispirited1647
down-at-mouth1649
down in (rarely of) the mouth1649
unhearted1650
sunlessa1658
sadful1658
unlightened1659
chagrin1665
saddened1665
damp1667
moping1674
desponding1688
tristitious1694
unenjoying1697
unraised1697
unheartya1699
unked1698
despondent1699
dismal1705
unjoyful1709
unrejoiced1714
dreara1717
disheartened1720
mumpish1721
unrejoicing1726
downhearted1742
out of spirits1745
chagrineda1754
low-spirited1753
sombrea1767
black-blooded1771
glumpy1780
oorie1787
sombrous1789
morose1791
Novemberish1793
glumpish1800
mopeful1800
die-away1802
blue-devilish1804
blue-devilled1807
malagrugrous1818
down in the hip1826
yonderly1828
sunshineless1831
downfaced1832
broody1851
in a (or the) trough1856
blue-devilly1871
drooped1873
glummy1884
pippy1886
humpy1889
pipped1914
lousy1933
pissed1943
crappy1956
doomy1961
bummed1970
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > [adjective] > lacking animation
deadOE
lifelessOE
unquickc1475
exanimate?c1550
flat1604
unsprighty1607
spiritless1609
dead-alive1617
fireless1647
uninformed1709
inanimate1713
unanimated1734
nerveless1735
inanimated1753
dispirited1758
dead and alive1863
unalive1905
pepless1909
zipless1922
soggy1928
undead1936
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. vii. 31 You must not thinke That we are made of stuffe so flat and dull, That, [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1642 Duke of Newcastle Let. 15 Jan. in C. H. Firth Life W. Cavendish Duke of Newcastle (1886) (modernized text) App. 330 The town will not admit of me..so I am very flat and out of countenance here.
c1680 W. Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 37 Lest he should grow flat in his devotions.
1801 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 5 324 Her spirits were dull and flat.
1805 C. Lamb Let. 14 June in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1976) II. 169 I now am calm, but sadly taken down, & flat.
1844 A. R. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury II. ii. 26 The audience..not witnessing any situation half so comic as the one they had just seen, were proportionately flat.
b. Of trade, etc.: Depressed, dull, inactive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective] > characterized by inaction or inactivity > specifically of places, seasons, trade, etc.
dead1581
languid1728
flat1831
1831 Lincoln Herald 30 Dec. 1 The trade for barley is exceedingly flat.
1894 Times (Weekly ed.) 9 Feb. 123/2 Tallow trade, flat, but prices unchanged.
1894 Daily News 1 June 3/5 A flat market for maize.
c. Of an electric battery: run down, (fully) discharged.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > voltaic or galvanic battery > [adjective] > of battery: discharged
flat1951
1951 Autocar 9 Nov. 1445/2 After five hundred miles of touring I found myself with a completely flat battery.
1961 Which? Apr. 89/1 If this discharging process goes on long enough, the battery will be left flat.
1969 N. Freeling Tsing-Boum ii. 17 The car battery is flat and I've got to charge it.
1978 B. Francis AA Car Duffer's Guide 42/1 A bloke rings up saying he had a flat battery.
10. Of drink, etc.: That has lost its flavour or sharpness; dead, insipid, stale.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > insipidity > [adjective]
wallowc897
smatchless?c1225
unsavoury?c1225
fresha1398
savourlessa1398
wearish1398
wershed1398
fond?c1430
unsavoured1435
palled1440
mildc1450
walsh1513
wallowish1548
dead1552
waterish1566
cold1585
flatten1594
seasonless1595
wersha1599
blown1600
flash1601
fatuous1608
tasteless1611
flat1617
insipid1620
ingustable1623
flashy1625
flatted1626
saltless1633
gustless1636
remiss1655
rheumatical1655
untasteable1656
vapid1656
exolete1657
distasted1662
vappous1673
insulse1676
toothless1679
mawkisha1697
intastable1701
waugh1703
impoignant1733
flavourless1736
instimulating1740
deadish1742
mawky1755
brineless1791
wishy-washy1791
keestless1802
shilpit1814
wish-washy1814
sapidless1821
silent1826
slushy1839
bland1878
spendsavour1879
wish-wash1896
dolled1917
spiceless1980
the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [adjective] > stale or flat
dead1552
blown1600
flat1617
dolled1917
1617 T. Heywood Woman Kilde with Kindnesse (new ed.) Epil. sig. I4v The wine..drunke too flat.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §367 Spirit of Wine burned..tasteth nothing so hot in the Mouth..but flat and dead.
1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 49 Fruit..to the Tongue inelegant and flat.
1772 J. Priestley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 154 When..cyder is become flat or dead.
1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner iii. 44 Tankards sending forth a scent of flat ale.
11.
a. Of sound, a resonant instrument, a voice: Not clear and sharp; dead, dull. Also in combinations, as flat-sounding, flat-vowelled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > non-resonance > [adjective]
deada1533
sullen1599
wooden1609
flat1626
shallow1626
lumpish1742
dowf1768
toneless1773
deadish1783
insonorous1795
tubby1807
veiled1816
puffy1832
narrow-toned1865
woolly1872
woody1875
dull1878
irresonant1899
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > dull
blinda1398
flat1626
unmodulated1755
immodulated1765
toneless1833
inflectionless1878
timbreless1928
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §154 If..you stop the Holes of a Hawkes Bell, it will make no Ring, but a flat noise, or Rattle.
a1663 Sanderson in Treas. Dav. Ps. cl. 5 The cymbal will be flat, it will have no life or spirit in it.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity ii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 450 Too flat I thought this voice, and that too shrill.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic ix. 217 The..variety of sounds..produced by the report of his fowling-piece. Sometimes they are flat and prolonged, at other times short and sharp.
1920 ‘K. Mansfield’ Lett. (1928) II. 3 His flat-sounding voice.
1936 M. Franklin All that Swagger i. 10 The haw-haw, flat-vowelled Public School English.
b. Music. Of a note or singer: Relatively low in pitch; below the regular or true pitch. B, D, E, etc. flat: a semitone lower than B, D, E, etc. Of an interval or scale: = minor adj. and n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [adjective] > low > relatively low
flat1597
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > minor
flat1597
lesser1610
minor1653
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [adjective] > tonality > minor key
flat1597
minore1740
minor1772
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 3 ♭..signifying the halfe note and flatt singing.
1609 J. Dowland tr. A. Ornithoparchus Micrologus 15 To sing fa in a flat Scale.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. ii. 94 Now you are too flat; And marre the concord, with too harsh a descant. View more context for this quotation
a1649 W. Drummond Poems (1656) 144 Like Arions Harpe, Now delicately flat, now sweetly sharp.
1655 J. Playford Introd. Skill Musick i. 44 A flat third lower than your third [sc. string] will then bee C Fa ut.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) The B-Cliff..being only to shew when Notes are to be sung flat.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 204 Cartilages and Muscles, to contract or dilate it [sc. the windpipe] as we would have our Voice Flat or Sharp.
1774 D. Barrington in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 63 270 The flat third is plaintive.
1875 A. Helps Social Pressure iii. 46 For the sixth time, he hears C flat instead of C sharp played.
1875 F. A. G. Ouseley Treat. Harmony (ed. 2) v. 67 All the fifths in tuning keyed instruments, are tuned a little flatter than perfection.
c. quasi-adv.
ΚΠ
1896 N.E.D. at Flat Mod. She has a tendency to sing flat.
12. Grammar.
†a. Of an accent, a syllable: Unstressed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [adjective] > accent > stressed > unstressed
flat1589
light1775
stressless1871
atonic1878
unstressed1884
weak-stressed1898
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. xiii. 101 [Re] being the first sillable, passing obscurely away with a flat accent is short.
1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 46 Euerye Noune Substantiue common, increasing flatte or short in the Genitiue case, is the Masculine Gender. Q. What meane you by that, To increase flat? A. To haue the last syllable, but one, pressed down flatte in pronouncing.
b. Phonetics. Of a consonant: Voiced, i.e. uttered with vibration of the vocal cords, e.g. b, d, v, etc., as opposed to breath, e.g. p, t, f, etc. Of a vowel: (see quot. 19343). Also, of a sound: characterized by the downward shift of higher frequencies.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > consonant > [adjective] > voiced
semi-spiritous1668
soft1668
intonable1864
flat1874
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [adjective] > types of
openeOE
sharp?1533
simple1582
small1599
soft1625
obscurea1637
round1710
slender1755
close1760
wide1824
lowered1836
narrow1844
labialized1856
orinasal1856
central1857
reduced1861
free1864
high1867
low1867
mid1867
mixed1867
rounded1867
unrounded1871
raised1876
unreduced1894
obscured1897
spread1902
lax1909
slack1909
tense1909
centralized1926
flat1934
r-coloured1935
checked1943
1874 R. Morris Hist. Eng. Gram. §54 B and d, &c. are said to be soft or flat, while p and t, &c. are called hard or sharp consonants.
1901 H. Sweet in Maître Phonétique 145 if wij dis′tiŋgwiʃ bi′twijn ‘mikst’ pə′ziʃən ən ‘flæt’ ʃeip əv ðə tʌŋ, wij ʃəd nætʃərəli kɔːl ðə θrij njuw siəriz bæk-flæt bæk-mikst frʌnt-mikst.
1934 H. C. Wyld in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XXXIX. 607 Another long vowel [ʌ̄] (low-flat-tense).
1934 H. C. Wyld in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XXXIX. 608 This vowel..is the mid-flat-tense.
1934 H. C. Wyld in S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XXXIX. 609 The tongue may be so used that neither back nor front predominates, but the whole tongue, which lies evenly in the mouth, is raised or lowered. Vowels so formed are called ‘mixed’ by Sweet, but I owe to him also the term ‘flat’ which I prefer as more descriptive. The vowel [ʌ̄] in bird is low-flat.
1952 R. Jakobson et al. Prelim. Speech Anal. 31 Flat vs. Plain...Flattening manifests itself by a downward shift of a set of formants.
c. Grammar. Not distinguished by a characteristic ending, as an adverb which has the same form as an adjective or substantive, or a substantive used as an adjective.Flat adverbs of modern English often go back to an Old English form ending in -e.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > adverb > [adjective] > specific types of
flat1871
1871 J. Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue vii. 361 The Flat Adverb is simply a substantive or an adjective placed in an adverbial position.
1901 J. B. Greenough & G. L. Kittredge Words (1902) 199 Not all of our ‘flat adverbs’ actually go back to such -ë forms.
1965 Eng. Stud. 46 356 The ‘flat-adverbs’ (like e.g. fast).
13.
a. Stock-exchange (U.S.) Stock is said to be borrowed flat, when the lender allows no interest on the money he takes as security for it ( Cent. Dict. and Standard Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [adjective] > types of securities > types of stock
rigged1826
flat1841
watered1865
sticky1866
weak1875
washed1886
blue chip1894
pawned1903
stripped1979
1841 N.Y. Standard Jan. Flat, without interest, in brokers' slang.
1870 Congress. Globe 25 Jan. 733/2 [Certificates] have been sold ‘flat’..that is to say, without taking the interest into account.
1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 61 Stock can almost always be obtained by borrowers, either flat, i.e. with no interest on either side, or with interest at market rates for the money advanced.
1885 Harper's Mag. Nov. 843/2 To lend ‘flat’ means without interest.
b. Commerce. Unvarying, fixed, uniform; of a standard amount; not varying with changed conditions; without excess or diminution for particular cases. Also quasi-adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > value of money > [adjective] > fixed
flat1898
1898 Engin. Mag. 16 38 Three costs are kept,—the flat cost (including labor and material only), the factory cost (factory expense added to flat cost), and total cost (including all expenses of every kind).
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 163/2 The statistics as to the street railway earnings in America are based upon the universal practice there of charging a ‘flat’ 5 cent fare for the whole trip.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 30 July 10/2 The Tube Railway, on which there was what was known as a ‘flat fare’—that was, a fare of twopence for the whole way.
1907 N.Y. Evening Post (semi-weekly ed.) 11 Feb. 4 A company..will take in exactly as much money if the whole lot pay fare at two cents flat.
1908 Daily Chron. 21 Feb. 2/6 They had found..that the ‘flat’ rate system—the fixed annual rate—was unsound.
1920 Westm. Gaz. 1 Apr. 4/2 There..ought not to be any flat rate for all classes of horse-drawn vehicles.
1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inq.) iii. xvi. 193 The majority of workers are paid at flat time-rates.
1928 Evening News 18 Aug. 11/2 The flat yield at this figure is £5 8s. 6d.
1950 T. H. Marshall Citizenship & Social Class 55 Flat-rate benefits do not reduce the gaps between different incomes.
1958 Ann. Reg. 1957 92 Labour offered a flat-rate reduction of £100 to every taxpayer.
1963 Times 24 May p. vii/3 The ‘sixpenny tube’, or to give it its correct name—the flat fare—if adopted by London Transport, would lead straight to bankruptcy.
B. adv. (Cf. A. 2, in many examples of which the word admits of being taken as an adverb.)
†1. By horizontal measurement. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > [adverb] > by horizontal measurement
flat1663
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > [adverb] > in a flat position > flat on the ground
aplatc1330
flat1663
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 82 Fret seelings..the workmanship only at five shillings a yard, measured flat.
2. Downright, absolutely, positively, plainly; entirely, fully, quite. Cf. dead adv. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > dogmatic assertion > [adverb]
flatly1562
peremptorily1571
flat1577
pontifically1582
roundly1596
categorically1603
plonkingly1965
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely, quite, or absolutely
faira1325
quitec1330
full outa1382
straightly1395
absolutely?a1425
quitementa1450
rightc1450
twighta1500
cleara1522
plain1535
flat1577
sincerely1583
clever1664
cleverly1696
sublimely1722
square1862
quaite1864
fucking A1960
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly
allOE
allOE
outlyOE
thwert-outc1175
skerea1225
thoroughc1225
downrightc1275
purec1300
purelyc1300
faira1325
finelyc1330
quitec1330
quitelyc1330
utterlyc1374
outerlya1382
plainlya1382
straighta1387
allutterly1389
starkc1390
oultrelya1393
plata1393
barec1400
outrightc1400
incomparablyc1422
absolutely?a1425
simpliciter?a1425
staringa1425
quitementa1450
properlyc1450
directly1455
merec1475
incomparable1482
preciselyc1503
clean?1515
cleara1522
plain1535
merely1546
stark1553
perfectly1555
right-down1566
simply1574
flat1577
flatly1577
skire1581
plumb1588
dead?1589
rankly1590
stark1593
sheera1600
start1599
handsmooth1600
peremptory1601
sheerly1601
rank1602
utter1619
point-blank1624
proofa1625
peremptorily1626
downrightly1632
right-down1646
solid1651
clever1664
just1668
hollow1671
entirely1673
blank1677
even down1677
cleverly1696
uncomparatively1702
subtly1733
point1762
cussed1779
regularly1789
unqualifiedly1789
irredeemably1790
positively1800
cussedly1802
heart1812
proper1816
slick1818
blankly1822
bang1828
smack1828
pluperfectly1831
unmitigatedly1832
bodaciously1833
unredeemedly1835
out of sight1839
bodacious1845
regular1846
thoroughly1846
ingrainedly1869
muckinga1880
fucking1893
motherless1898
self1907
stone1928
sideways1956
terminally1974
1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande vi. f. 19v/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I As for Gerrot, it differeth flatte from Giralde.
a1591 R. Greenham Serm. (1599) i. 98 They that are thus borne again..cannot fall flat away by sin.
1601 A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 275 I am flat of your minde.
1703 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 114 The Iron of a Plane is said to be set Rank, when its edge stands so flat [1678 far] below the Sole of the Plane, that..it will take off a thick shaving.
1770 C. Jenner Placid Man II. 117 Sir Harry contradicted him flat.
1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 242 That wild thing, Peggy, told me, flat and plain, if I did so again, she would pull it off.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby lxiv. 621 I be not the mun to crow..so I tell 'ee flat.
1842 Spirit of Times 21 May 138/1 Every friend of Old Whitenose would have been flat broke!
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Flat broke, utterly bankrupt, entirely out of money.
1933 W. S. Maugham Sheppey (1952) ii. 244 You haven't turned it [sc. the governor's invitation] down flat?
3.
†a. Directly, exactly. With respect to the quarter of the heavens: Due. flat against: literal and figurative directly contrary to. Cf. dead adv. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [adverb] > straight or due
rightOE
rightlyOE
evenc1300
plata1450
plain1509
straight1512
directly1513
fulla1529
flat1531
due?1574
dead1800
slap1829
plunk1866
squarely1883
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > in opposition to [preposition]
to-gainsa1000
againOE
gainc1175
gainsc1275
i-gainc1325
igainesc1325
to1388
incontrair1484
flat against1531
gainst1590
v.1738
versus1873
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [preposition] > directly contrary to
flat against1653–4
1531 W. Tyndale Expos. 1 John (1537) 28 When the Sonne is flat sowth.
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) IV. 37 Then Porte Crokerton flat Est.
1562 T. Cooper Answere Def. Truth f. 80v, in Apol. Priuate Masse Christes wordes and institution is so flat agaynste you, as you [etc.].
1653–4 B. Whitelocke Jrnl. Swedish Ambassy (1772) I. 123 The wind continued flatt and high against Whitelocke's course.
b. Exactly, precisely, not exceeding the stated value: used of amounts, distances, and the like. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb] > with respect to size or number
by scorec1325
expressc1475
to a hair's breadtha1616
flat1909
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. 827/3 Flat,..Without excess; exactly; due;—used chiefly of numbers or quantities; as, to run a hundred yards in ten seconds flat.
1945 Sat. Rev. 4 Aug. 22 This one, for instance,..all you fiendishly clever people will solve in no time flat.
1962 Guardian 5 July 1/5 In no time flat the very voice of Mrs Chichester..was on the horn.
1969 J. Clarke Foxon's Hole viii. 49 It took her about two minutes flat to step into jeans and sweater.
4. (to sit) flat down: plump on the ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > be sitting or seated [verb (intransitive)] > sit down > heavily or unceremoniously
soss1790
(to sit) flat down1852
dump1891
plonk1932
plotz1941
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin (U.K. ed.) xxviii Sitting flat down on the floor.
C. n.3
1.
a. absol. quasi-n. That which is flat. on the flat: on paper or canvas; on a smooth surface, as opposed to in relief. from the flat: from a painting or drawing on paper, canvas, etc. (opposed to from the round).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > [phrase] > from painting or drawing
from the flat1862
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > [phrase] > on smooth surface
on the flat1862
1862 J. C. Robinson Ital. Sculpture of Middle Ages 60 Luca..simultaneously with his enamelled terra-cotta sculptures, also practised painting..on the flat.
1884 Cassell's Family Mag. Mar. 216/1 Occupied in shading in chalk from the flat.
1885 G. Allen Babylon I. v. 99 To model a composition in relief from an engraving on the flat.
b. The flat surface or portion (of anything); esp. the broad surface (of a blade) as opposed to the edge; also, the inside of the open hand, etc.Sometimes treated as a noun admitting of a plural, as ‘with the flats of their swords’; but flat is more usual.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [noun] > flat part of something
flatc1374
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surface > [noun] > the broad surface of anything
flatc1374
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > hand > [noun] > palm of
loof13..
palmc1300
doll1567
handhole1767
flat1828
palmar1890
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iv. 899 (927) Beth rather to hym cause of flat than egge.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xvi. viii Syre Bors..gafe hym grete strokes with the flatte of his swerd vpon the vysage.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §145 The Strings of a..Violl..doe giue a far greater Sound, by reason of the Knot, and Board, and Concaue vnderneath, than if there were nothing but onely the Flat of a Board.
1672 N. Grew Anat. Veg. i. 11 This Cuticle is not only spread upon the Convex of the Lobes, but also on their Flats, where they are contiguous.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 68 On the Flat of the Green..I resolv'd to pitch my Tent.
1727 W. Snelgrave Acct. Guinea (1734) 258 He gave me a slight blow on the Shoulder, with the flat of his Cutlace.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 77 An island..like the flat of a plate turned bottom up.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) II. 264 The breast, loins, flat of the neck.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth iii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 76 Striking the flat of his hand against that which the armourer expanded towards him.
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. ii. 47 The flat of the thigh to the saddle.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations III. vii. 111 Here's old Bill Barley on the flat of his back.
1885 Manch. Examiner 23 June 5/3 The military..cleared the piazza with the flats of their swords.
c. Level country. In Horse Racing: level ground without hedges or ditches; cf. flat race n. at Compounds 2; also, the level piece of turf at the end of some race-courses. Hence gen. The race-course.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun]
soil1594
plat1788
flat1826
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > racecourse > [noun] > level ground
flat1826
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > racecourse > [noun]
careera1586
lists1601
hippodrome1750
horse-course1751
racecourse1764
racetrack1830
flat1870
raceway1910
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxvii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 92 Sic a..body..could never hae been bred and born on a flat.
1847 G. H. H. Oliphant Law Horses, etc. App. 278 A.F. Across the Flat 1 M. 2 Fur. 24 Yds.
1870 ‘Ouida’ Puck I. ix. 169 Your young lordling, who spends all his..time on the ‘flat’.
1886 Duke of Beaufort Introd. in A. Coventry & A. E. T. Watson Steeple-chasing in Earl of Suffolk et al. Racing & Steeple-chasing (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 273 In steeple-chases, hurdle races, and on the flat.
1892 J. Kent Racing Life Ld. G. C. Bentinck ii. 48 He will win..unless a crow flies down his throat as he comes across the flat.
2.
a. A horizontal plane; a level as opposed to a slope. †on the flat of: on the level or plane of. †of a flat; on the same flat: on the same level or plane.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > on a level surface [phrase] > on the level or plane of
on the flat of1605
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > [noun] > a horizontal plane
flat1605
level1634
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > in a horizontal line or plane [phrase] > on same horizontal plane
on the same flat1605
of a flat1650
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. G1v No perfect discouerie can bee made vppon a flatte, or a leuell. View more context for this quotation
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §805 It were good to trie that Exposing of Flesh or Fish both..some height aboue the Earth, and vpon the Flat of the Earth.
a1634 G. Chapman Bussy D'Ambois (1641) Prol. sig. A2 They move with equall feet on the same flat.
a1640 P. Massinger Bashful Lover iii. i. 16 in 3 New Playes (1655) It was not in The power of fortune to remove me from The flat I firmly stood on.
1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Num. x. 33) 17 The cloud levelled mountains, raised vallies, and laid all of a flat; that is..made all plain.
1791 J. Bentham Panopticon i. 155 A declivity is..preferable by far to a dead flat.
1822 T. Strangeways Mosquito Shore 28 This high eminence has a flat at top of about 1500 acres.
b. Sometimes opposed to fall.
ΚΠ
1645 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Bad Times iv. xxii. 242 Either on the Flat of an Ordinary Temper, or in the Fall of an Extraordinary Temptation.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. ii. 60 Some three inches of fall to a foot of flat.
†c. A geometrical plane, irrespective of position; an even surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > [noun] > flat or level surface or side
floor?a1400
plain?a1425
pane1434
smoothc1440
platform1551
superficies1571
flat1624
level1634
plane1663
sole1711
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. ii. 83 It comes neere an Artificiall Miracle; to make diuerse distinct Eminences appeare vpon a Flat, by force of Shadowes.
1659 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. v. 137 A Plain in Dyalling is that Flat whereon a Dyal is Described.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 69 Whatsoever moves as much in a flat as it can for the earths rim, we reckon [etc.].
†d. A plane figure. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > two-dimensional
figure1340
platform1551
rectilinear1682
flata1690
lineatea1690
reptile1963
a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 175 Those Superficial Figures called Like Flats..are such..as bear a certain Proportion in their Sides unto each other.
e. A flat space or flattened surface; spec. a flat place on the tyre or wheel of a vehicle, or the flat space on a commutator caused by sparking or irregularity of rotation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > rock formations > [noun] > flat or eroded
clinta1400
table rock1745
pavement1827
flat1873
rock fan1900
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > operation of machinery > [noun] > regulation of current > device for > flat place on
flat1873
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > rim > flat place caused by wear
flat1906
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West xxvii. 576 Up the cliffs, where caves open inward, flats have been worked upon the rock.
1893 C. C. Hawkins & F. Wallis Dynamo 391 Occasionally, one or two segments in a commutator wear down below the general cylindrical surface of the rest, and form what is known as a ‘flat’.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 3 July 10/2 Flats on the wheels may to a great extent be avoided by skilful driving, but there is a potential ‘flat’ in every skid.
1906 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 808/1 A violent application of the brakes may cause several pounds' worth of damage by grinding a ‘flat’ on the tyres.
1930 Engineering 30 May 708/2 It was suggested that flats in railway wheels could, with advantage, be restricted to a depth of 3 mm. (0 ·118 in.).
1966 H. Sheppard Dict. Railway Slang (ed. 2) 5 Flat, worn part on wheel tyre due to skidding, or, in London Transport, due to excessive braking.
f. In full optical flat. A block or lamina (usually of glass) with one or more surfaces made accurately plane and smooth, any unevenness or departure from a perfect plane being small compared with the wavelength of light.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > apparatus > [noun]
spectacle-case1597
steel glass1662
dark glasses1733
bruiser1738
hone pavement1738
Ramsden's ghost1807
sunshade1829
optical bank1874
phacometer1876
optical bench1880
flat1897
lens paper1925
light pipe1939
lens tissue1941
optical fibre1960
1897 Astrophysical Jrnl. 5 134 The second..requires two large optical flats, each about one and one-half times the aperture of the telescope itself.
1932 A. C. Hardy & F. H. Perrin Princ. Optics xvi. 345 Round flats are edged exactly like lenses but rectangular ones are edged somewhat differently.
1957 R. S. Longhurst Geom. & Physical Optics viii. 135 If an optical flat is placed in contact with a shallow convex spherical surface, a thin air film of varying thickness results.
1971 Nature 30 Apr. 575/1 Silver chloride sheet..was made as flat as possible by compression between glass optical flats.
3. Building.
a. The horizontal part of a roof, usually covered with lead.
ΚΠ
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 455/2 Flat,..that part in the covering of a house of lead or other metal which is laid horizontal.
1855 Act 18 & 19 Victoria c. 122 §17 Fifteen inches above the highest part of any flat or gutter.
†b. A landing on a stair-case; also, the ‘tread’ of a stair.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > landing
half-pace1611
landing-place1611
rest1611
resting place1645
plate1661
hearth-pacec1675
foot pace1679
stand1709
flat1730
quarter-pace1730
landing1789
landing floor1856
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > step > tread
tread1712
flat1793
step-board1823
treader1881
stair-tread1919
1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 290 A Stair of 20 Steps, interrupted by a Flat.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §88 There was but one flat or tread of a step above the center of the house.
4. Mining.
a. A horizontal bed or stratum of coal, stone, etc.; a horizontal vein of metal, or a lateral extension of a vein.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [noun] > stratum > position or direction of strata > horizontal stratum
flat1793
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. I The Flat always lies on that Side of the Vein which Faces the Water.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §108 The quarry-men..cross-cut the large flats, which are laid bare.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 133 Flat, a horizontal vein or ore-deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also any horizontal portion of a vein elsewhere not horizontal.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Flats, subterraneous beds or sheets of trap rock or whin.
1886 G. A. Lebour Geol. Northumberland & Durham (ed. 2) 62 Flat, the lateral extension of a lead vein.
b. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1846 W. E. Brockett J. T. Brockett's Gloss. North Country Words (ed. 3) Flatt, in a coal mine, the situation where the horses take the coal tubs from the putters.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Flat, a district or set of stalls separated by faults, old workings, or barriers of solid coal.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Flat, the part of a screen at a pit where the coals rest, and are cleaned before being put into the waggon.
5.
a. A piece of level ground; a level expanse; a stretch of country without hills, a plain; the low ground through which a river flows.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain
fieldeOE
wong971
field landOE
woldc1220
flat1296
plainc1325
field placec1384
champaign?a1400
floor?a1400
smeethc1440
plain-land1487
weald1544
champian1589
camp1605
level1623
campaign1628
planure1632
campania1663
esplanade1681
flatland1735
vlakte1785
steppe1837
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > land near river > [noun]
haleOE
haugh1487
strath1549
wartha1641
freshes1652
intervale1653
interval1684
riverfront1751
river bottom1752
creek-bottom1822
flat1852
1296 Newminster Cartul. (1878) 144 Stokwelflatte..Seruonreflatte.
?a1400 in Cartul. Abb. de Seleby (Yorks. Rec. Ser.) II. 42 Xij seliones jacentes in iiij locis sive flattes.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 507 Falleȝ vpon fayre flat.
1510 in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. 7 59 (note) One parcel of land called Peeston's flatt.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 248 Till of this flat a mountaine you haue made. View more context for this quotation
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur i. 7 Some range the Flats, and Scour the Champain Land.
1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 45 A large Flat of barren, heathy ground.
1765–75 P. Pond in C. M. Gates Five Fur Traders (1933) 53 The wind took the Canew up in the Air—Leat hir fall on the frozen flat.
1811 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire I. i. 133 Alluvial flat of loam or sandy loam has accumulated upon the Gravel.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. iii. 75 A large pleasant green flat, where the village of Castlewood stood.
1857 R. B. Paul Lett. from Canterbury iv. 68 The flat on which Mr. Gebbie's house stands.
1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile viii. 199 The river widens away before us; the flats are green on either side.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. i. 11 Here it widened out into a large, well-grassed flat.
1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft iii. 54 These mulga flats contain rocky boulders.
1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 130 The doe usually fed on the plateau, but.., she sometimes came down on to the flats.
figurative.1685 J. Dryden 2nd Misc. Pref., in Wks. (1800) III. 49 Milton's Paradise Lost is admirable; but am I..bound to maintain, that there are no flats amongst his elevations?1850 T. De Quincey Conversat. in Hogg's Instructor New Ser. 4 68/1 Very often it [sc. conversation] sinks into flats of insipidity through mere accident.1878 J. Morley Vauvenargues Crit. Misc. 26 The mere bald and sterile flats of character.
b. A tract of low-lying marshy land; a swamp.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun]
marsheOE
fenc888
sladec893
moorOE
mossOE
marshlandlOE
lay-fena1225
lay-mirea1225
moor-fenc1275
flosha1300
strother?a1300
marish1327
carrc1330
waterlanda1382
gaseync1400
quaba1425
paludec1425
mersec1440
sumpa1450
palus?1473
wash1483
morass1489
oozea1500
bog?a1513
danka1522
fell1538
soga1552
Camarine1576
gog1583
swale1584
sink1594
haga1600
mere1609
flata1616
swamp1624
pocosin1634
frogland1651
slash1652
poldera1669
savannah1671
pond-land1686
red bog1686
swang1691
slack1719
flowa1740
wetland1743
purgatory1760
curragh1780
squall1784
marais1793
vlei1793
muskeg1806
bog-pit1820
prairie1820
fenhood1834
pakihi1851
terai1852
sponge1856
takyr1864
boglet1869
sinkhole1885
grimpen1902
sphagnum bog1911
blanket bog1939
string bog1959
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. ii. 2 All the infections that the Sunne suckes vp From Bogs, Fens, Flats . View more context for this quotation
1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 53 Through bogs and dangerous flats.
1821 Ld. Dudley Let. 27 Nov. (1840) 294 The flats and swamps of Holland.
1859 J. D. Burn Autobiogr. Beggar Boy (ed. 4) 99 The Cambridgeshire flats or marshes.
c. Australian. (See quot. 1869.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > tract of land
ground1548
coalfield1734
gas field1833
tin-ground1839
gold-diggings1848
goldfield1848
oilfield1863
oil belt1865
flat1869
tin-field1898
copper belt1955
oil patch1958
1869 R. B. Smyth Gold Fields Victoria 611 Flat, a low even tract of land, generally occurring where creeks unite, over which are spread many strata of sand and gravel, with the usual rich auriferous drift immediately overlying the bed-rock.
1874 G. Walch Head over Heels 79 Every man on the flat left his claim.
1879 A. R. Wallace Australasia iv. 68 In the gold districts such deposits form ‘flats’.
6. Chiefly plural. A nearly level tract, over which the tide flows, or which is covered by shallow water; a shallow, shoal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > [noun] > shallow place
shoal839
shoala1400
bank?1473
undeep1513
shelf1545
flat1550
vadea1552
ford1563
shallow1571
shoaling1574
ebbs1577
shelve1582
bridge1624
ballow1677
shamble1769
sharp1776
poling ground1901
sea-shoal1903
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > [noun] > level
flat1550
meadow1563
marsh1662
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > hair hanging loose
flat1678
peekaboo1968
1550 J. Coke Deb. Heraldes Eng. & Fraunce sig. Hviij The sea is..full of flattes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) v. vi. 41.
a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 94 Wee shaped our course to gett ouer the flattes into the riuer of Thames.
1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Epistles xxiii. 168 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) When we have scap'd so many Rocks, and Flatts.
1777 W. Anderson Jrnl. 9 June in J. Cook Jrnls. (1967) III. ii. 888 At ten we were passing over a flat of Coral rock and small patches of sand which could easily be seen with eight and ten fathom.
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 621 The boat grounded on the flats a little to the east of the pier.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Flat..a shallow over which the tide flows..If less than three fathoms, it is called shoal or shallow.
figurative.1644 J. Milton Of Educ. 2 Those Grammatick flats & shallows where they stuck.
7. Agriculture.
†a. One of the larger portions into which the common field was divided; a square furlong.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of area > [noun] > a system or process of measuring land > square furlong
quarentenea1475
flat1523
furlong1819
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > common or unenclosed land > portion of
furlong12..
dalec1241
dole1523
flat1523
stintagea1642
stintinga1642
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng ii. f. 2 If they [the acres] lye by great flattes or furlonges in the commyn feldes.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 45 In fower dayes the said dozen shearers finished the said flatte and there is in it 14 through lands and two gares.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ii. §32. 3 Ridges, Butts, Flats.
1885 Q. Rev. 159 325 Theoretically each flat was a square of 40 poles, containing 10 acres.
†b. A tract of arable land; a cornfield. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [noun] > broken land > arable or ploughed land
earthlandeOE
falloweOE
acreOE
hide and gaine1347
furrowc1380
teamlanda1387
tilthc1460
arablec1475
tilling land1488
flat1513
plough-tilth1516
ploughland1530
tillage1543
plough-ground1551
teamware1567
ploughing ground1625
ploughing land1674
prairie-breaking1845
plough1859
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. vii (vi). 13 The flate of cornys rank.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. xii. 38 The ȝallow corn flattis of Lyde.
c. dialect. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Flats, same as Feerings.
1884 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) Flat, a broad flat bed as distinguished from a narrow rounded butt. We speak of ploughing a field in flats when there is no indication of reens... A wide space covered by any particular crop is called a flat, as ‘a flat o' taters’.
8. Something broad and thin.
a. A thin disc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > roundness > [noun] > circularity > a circle > a disc
round1615
flat1732
disc1780
discoid1828
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. iv. ix. 227 Is it [sc. a planet] not a round luminous Flat, no bigger than a Sixpence?
†b. Chiefly plural. Dice of a shape to fall unfairly when thrown. (Cf. A. 5b) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > dice-playing > [noun] > die or dice > false or loaded
stop-dice1540
bar1545
flat1545
gourd1545
barred dicec1555
bristle-dicec1555
fulhamc1555
graviersc1555
high manc1555
langretc1555
low manc1555
cheat1567
dice of vantage?1577
demy1591
forger1591
squarier1592
tallmen?1592
stop cater trey1605
demi-bar1606
downhill1664
high runner1670
low runner1670
doctor1688
tat1688
uphill1699
cut1711
loaded dice1771
dispatcher1798
dispatch1819
miss-out1928
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus i. f. 19 What false dise vse they:..flattes, gourdes.
1664 J. Wilson Cheats iv. i. 46 Taught you the use of..the Fullam, the Flat, the Bristle.
1711 J. Puckle Club 21 (note) At dice they have the doctors, the fulloms, loaded dice, flats.
c. slang. in plural. Playing-cards. Cf. broad n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun]
card1463
playing card1480
carte1497
bookc1575
charta1680
broad1789
flat1819
pasteboard1840
paper1842
painted mischief1879
boards1923
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 175 Flats, a cant name for playing cards.
1821 Life D. Haggart 56 We played at flats in a budging-crib.
d. Cotton-spinning. (See quot. 1874.)
ΚΠ
1851 L. D. B. Gordon in Art Jrnl. Illustr. Catal. p. iv**/2 The filaments, after emerging from the flats, lie in nearly parallel lines among the card teeth of the drum.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 878/1 Flat (Carding), a strip of wood clothed with bent teeth, and placed above the large cylinder of a carding-machine.
e. In a breech-loading gun: The piece of metal projecting from the breech to support the barrel.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > barrel > part supporting barrel
flat1881
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 230 When the barrels are for breech-loaders, the flats are formed on the undersides of the breech-ends.
f. A flat strip of wood inserted under the inner edge of a picture-frame and projecting beyond it; usually gilded. Called also mat n.3
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > picture-frame > part of
spandrel1862
flat1886
1886 W. G. Rawlinson in 19th Cent. Mar. 400 Small drawings..greatly injured by the very modern-looking deep gold ‘flats’ brought close up to them.
g. In various uses (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > unspecified types > [noun]
whalec950
tumbrelc1300
sprout1340
squame1393
codmop1466
whitefish1482
lineshark?a1500
salen1508
glaucus1509
bretcock1522
warcodling1525
razor1530
bassinatc1540
goldeney1542
smy1552
maiden1555
grail1587
whiting1587
needle1589
pintle-fish1591
goldfish1598
puffin fish1598
quap1598
stork1600
black-tail1601
ellops1601
fork-fish1601
sea-grape1601
sea-lizard1601
sea-raven1601
barne1602
plosher1602
whale-mouse1607
bowman1610
catfish1620
hog1620
kettle-fish1630
sharpa1636
carda1641
housewifea1641
roucotea1641
ox-fisha1642
sea-serpent1646
croaker1651
alderling1655
butkin1655
shamefish1655
yard1655
sea-dart1664
sea-pelican1664
Negro1666
sea-parrot1666
sea-blewling1668
sea-stickling1668
skull-fish1668
whale's guide1668
sennet1671
barracuda1678
skate-bread1681
tuck-fish1681
swallowtail1683
piaba1686
pit-fish1686
sand-creeper1686
horned hog1702
soldier1704
sea-crowa1717
bran1720
grunter1726
calcops1727
bennet1731
bonefish1734
Negro fish1735
isinglass-fish1740
orb1740
gollin1747
smelt1776
night-walker1777
water monarch1785
hardhead1792
macaw-fish1792
yellowback1796
sea-raven1797
blueback1812
stumpnose1831
flat1847
butterfish1849
croppie1856
gubbahawn1857
silt1863
silt-snapper1863
mullet-head1866
sailor1883
hogback1893
skipper1898
stocker1904
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 464/2 Women wear Hair..in Falls or Flats when the hair hangs loose down about the shoulders.
1804 J. Roberts Pennsylvania Farmer 55 It is made like a gate, with five bars or flats.
1846–52 F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott Papers v. 53 The times that Critter has had..my flats [= flat-irons] and my wash board, aint to be numbered.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Flats, small white fresh-water fish, as roach, etc.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Flat..a rough piece of bone for a button mould.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 878/1 Flat, a surface of size over gilding.
1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Flats, Flat Bar Iron.
1891 Cent. Mag. Feb. 526/2 The Mexican system of crushing grain by hand on the metate, as the flat under the millstone of the Mexicans and native Californians is called.
1893 J. S. Farmer Slang Flats, base money.
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 253 Flat. (a) On a stylus, this is a surface of wear which appears on the two sides of the tip after some period of use... (b) On the rubber tyre of an idler wheel, a ‘flat’ is an indentation which may form if the idler is left ‘parked’ in contact with the drive spindle, or other surface.
1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-offset 272 Flat, a number of negatives stripped-up or assembled in position for printing-down on to a single sheet of metal.
9. Something broad and shallow.
a. A broad, flat-bottomed boat.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > flat-bottomed boat > [noun]
plat1449
float1557
flat-bottom1579
tumbrila1625
flat-boat1660
tumbril boat1688
turnel boat1688
flat1749
kettle-bottom1838
flatty1892
1749 W. Douglass Summary First Planting Brit. Settlem. N.-Amer. I. 461 A large Scow or Flat, to carry Persons, Cattle, and Goods, with a Canoe, Tender.
1801 Nelson in A. Duncan Life (1806) 194 The enemy's..flats (lugger-rigged)..were..anchored..Three of the flats and a brig were sunk.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Flats..lighters used in river navigation, and very flat-floored boats for landing troops.
1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 21 I..went up in the first Government steamer and flat to Prome.
b. A broad, shallow basket used for packing produce for the market. Cf. A. 5e.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > container for food > [noun] > basket > for fruit or vegetables
fraila1382
top1440
tapnet1524
fig-frail1608
flat1640
raisin frail1669
chip basket1758
pottle1771
sievea1800
punnet1822
trug1836
bodge1876
molly1883
handle1900
1640 in J. Entick Hist. London II. 181 Packs, trusses, flats, or maunds.
1840 New Monthly Mag. 59 267 A basket..resembling those which..they call butter-flats.
1886 Daily News 4 Dec. 5/4 Watercress..costs the hawker at the rate of from 16s. to 17s. a flat.
1889 A. T. Pask Eyes of Thames 158 The Mimosa comes over in small flat hampers called ‘flats’.
c. A shallow two-wheeled hand-cart.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle pushed or pulled by person > [noun] > wheelbarrow or handcart
crowd-wainc1330
wheelbarrowc1340
barrowa1420
crowd-barrowc1440
hollbarowe1453
harry-carry1493
handbarrow1521
drumbler1613
handcart1640
bayard1642
hurlbarrowa1682
go-cart1759
gurry1777
box-barrow1804
truck1815
pushcart1853
hurly1866
flat1884
Georgia buggy1904
trek-cart1928
1884 Chambers's Jrnl. 5 Jan. 9/1 Butchers' carts, costermongers' flats, and other light conveyances.
d. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > vat or vessel for brewing or fermenting
ale fateOE
sesterc1000
bruthen-leadc1275
kimnel1335
tine1337
gyle-fat1341
yeast-fat1367
brew-lead1369
coomb?a1400
gyle-tunc1425
brewing-lead1444
brewing vessel1462
work lead1471
lead1504
brewing copper1551
gyle-tub1568
kier1573
batch1697
ale vat1701
working tun1703
tun1713
brewing tub1766
flat1791
round1806
beck1828
gyle1836
tun-tub1842
stone-square1882
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing II. ii. i. ii. 32 Silk treated with these galls gained in the dye-bath or flat.
1804 Count Rumford in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 94 178 The broad and shallow vessels (flats) in which brewers cool their wort.
e. U.S. = flatcar n. at Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
f. Applied to articles of dress. (a) A low shoe or sandal; (b) a low-crowned hat (U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > with specific heels > low heels
flat1834
flatty1937
1834 J. R. Planché Hist. Brit. Costume 375 Brogue-uirleaker, that is flats made of untanned leather, graced their feet.
1855 Knickerbocker Mag. 45 566 A good-looking young squaw, who wore a large ‘flat’ to save her complexion.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Flat, a broad-brimmed, low-crowned, straw hat, worn by women.
1864 S. B. Warner Old Helmet II. xvi. 269 But you will not wear that flat there?
1938 Times 11 Mar. 19/4 With your suit, coloured shoes and bags are favourites. Particularly chic are the crocodile ‘flats’ in cornflower-blue, [etc.].
1950 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (1952) i. 19 They wore what they called the St. Louis Flats and the Chicago Flats, made with cork soles and without heels and with gambler designs on the toes.
10. Shipbuilding.
a. (see quot. 1867.)
ΚΠ
1815 W. Burney Falconer's New Universal Dict. Marine (rev. ed.) Flats, in ship-building, the name given to all the timbers in midships.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Flats, all the floor-timbers that have no bevellings in mid-ships, or pertaining to the dead-flat.
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding v. 95 Horizontal flats extending between the bulkhead and a cast iron cellular stern-post.
b. The partial deck or floor of a particular compartment.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > part of vessel above water > [noun] > deck > partial deck or floor of compartment
flat1869
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding ix. 177 Iron plates similar to those used in the flats of stoke-holes.
1893 Daily News 3 July 5/6 Tank room, capstan engine flat, and..the patent fuel space.
11. Theatre. A part of a scene mounted on a wooden frame which is pushed in horizontally or lowered on to the stage. to join the flats: to make into a consistent whole, to give unity.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > scenery > pieces of
side shutter1634
drop1781
flat1795
back-scene1818
border1824
profile1824
act drop1829
set piece1859
profiling1861
profile wing1873
backing1889
profile piece1896
revolve1900
construction1924
wood-wing1933
cutout1949
1746 D. Garrick Let. 11 Dec. in Private Corr. (1831) I. 46 He had built up the stage, but as nobody came there, he shut in a flat scene to hide it.]
1795 F. Reynolds Rage ii. ii. 27 An elegant Apartment leading to Lady Sarah's Dressing-Room—the Door in the Flat.
1807 Director 2 331 The entire assemblage of wings and drops and flat.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 253 A strange jumble of flats, flies, wings [etc.].
1901 Daily Chron. 21 Aug. 3/4 The ‘flats’ of her career, so to speak, are not quite joined.
1908 Daily Chron. 29 Apr. 3/3 The ‘flats’ of the new edition are not very well ‘joined’.
1921 G. B. Shaw Pen Portraits (1932) 175 Really, Henry Arthur [Jones], you might at least join your flats.
1923 G. B. Shaw Shaw on Theatre (1958) 161 A pit without stalls, which jeered mercilessly when the flats would not join.
1932 E. V. Lucas Reading, Writing & Remembering iii. 66 He [sc. Mr. Asquith] gave the reporters less work in making him grammatical and fluent than any other speaker. There was no need to join his flats.
1957 Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 2) 264/1 The frame of an English flat consists of four 3 × 1 in. timbers, of which the two vertical side-pieces are the Stiles, and the others, the top and bottom Rails.
1957 Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 2) 265/1 In the mid-nineteenth century..it was..used in the phrase ‘a pair of flats’, and was confined to the two separate halves of a back scene... Farther back, the word is used only adjectivally, and the full term is Flat Scene.
12. House-painting. A surface painted without gloss, so as to appear dead: see dead adj. 13b. Also the pigment employed for this purpose. Cf. flatting n.1 5. bastard flat (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > mat surface
flat1823
flat finish1913
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > paint > types of
oila1536
primera1650
wash1698
paint oil1727
flat tint1821
flat1823
flatting1823
distemper1837
kalsomine1840
oil filler1846
calcimine1864
tube-colour1881
Ripolin1899
gloss enamel1908
gloss paint1926
jelly paint1958
silicate paint-
1823 Mechanic's Mag. No. 7. 108 The rooms..were painted with Chinese Flat on walls.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1591 Bastard Flat is thinned with turpentine and a little oil..To procure a good flat, it is necessary to have a perfectly even glossy ground, and it should be of the same tint, but a little darker than the finishing flat.
13. slang. A person who is easily taken in, and is said to be ‘only half sharp’; a duffer, simpleton. Cf. A. 8 a prime flat (see quot. 1819).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > [noun] > gullible person, dupe
foola1382
woodcockc1430
geckc1530
cousinc1555
cokes1567
milch cow1582
gudgeon1584
coney1591
martin1591
gull1594
plover1599
rook1600
gull-finch1604
cheatee1615
goata1616
whirligig1624
chouse1649
coll1657
cully1664
bubble1668
lamb1668
Simple Simon?1673
mouth1680
dupe1681
cull1698
bub1699
game1699
muggins1705
colour1707
milk cow1727
flat1762
gulpin1802
slob1810
gaggee1819
sucker1838
hoaxee1840
softie1850
foozle1860
lemon1863
juggins1882
yob1886
patsy1889
yapc1894
fall guy1895
fruit1895
meemaw1895
easy mark1896
lobster1896
mark1896
wise guy1896
come-on1897
pushover1907
John1908
schnookle1908
Gretchen1913
jug1914
schnook1920
soft touch1924
prospect1931
steamer1932
punter1934
dill1941
Joe Soap1943
possum1945
Moreton Bay1953
easy touch1959
1762 O. Goldsmith Life R. Nash 137 If the Flat has no money, the Sailor cries, I have more money than any man in the fair.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 175 Flat..any person who is found an easy dupe to the designs of the family is said to be a prime flat.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) x. 82 You wouldn't be such a flat as to let three thousand a year go out of the family?
14. Music.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
a. A note lowered half a tone below the natural pitch.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
b. In musical notation, the sign ♭ which indicates this lowering of the note; a double flat ♭♭ indicates that it must be lowered by two semitones.
c. sharps and flats: the black keys of the keyboard of a piano.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > keys
piano key1829
sharps and flats1834
natural1880
dominos1889
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. D3 It can neuer be good musicke, that stands all vpon sharpes, and neuer a flat.
a1635 T. Randolph Muses Looking-glasse iv. v. 84 in Poems (1638) The Lutanist takes Flats and Sharpes, And out of those so dissonant notes, does strike A ravishing Harmony.
1658 A. Cokayne Small Poems 78 His Flats were all Harmonious.
1658 J. Playford Breif Introd. Skill Musick (new ed.) 16 I have seen some Songs with four flats.
1694 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 18 72 Flats or Half-notes to other Keys.
1706 A. Bedford Temple Musick iii. 57 Methods of altering their Tunes, by Flats and Sharps placed at the Beginning.
1806 J. W. Callcott Musical Gram. v. 57 The mark now used for the Flat was originally the letter B.
1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 215 Twelve lines in each, of hair and Indian hurl, alternately, like the flats and sharps of a piano.
1872 H. C. Banister Text-bk. Mus. 7 A Flat, ♭, indicates the lowering of the note to which it is prefixed, one semitone.
d. sharps and flats: used punningly for (a) sharpers and their victims; (b) recourse to weapons.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > [noun] > recourse to weapons
sharps and flats1801
blood and iron1863
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > defrauder or swindler > [noun] > collectively > and their victims
sharps and flats1801
(a)
1801 Sporting Mag. 17 37 There are sharps and flats in Paris as well as London.
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 368 That emporium for sharps and flats, famed Tattersall's.
(b)1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 114 He was something hasty with his flats and sharps.
15. Short for flat-racer n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > in specific kind of race
plate horse1740
flat1811
mile-horse1829
steeplechaser1839
plater1859
all-ages1864
trace-mate1880
chaser1884
flat-racer1886
handicapper1890
miler1894
point-to-pointer1929
1811 Sporting Mag. 38 168 He had one of the finest flats in the world in training.
16. U.S. colloquial to give the flat: to give a flat refusal (to a suitor). (Cf. A. 6a.)
ΚΠ
1859 in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2)

Compounds

C1.
a. General attributive.
flat-like adj.
ΚΠ
1813 Sporting Mag. 42 24 It would appear degrading and flat-like.
b.
flat-catcher n. one who takes in simpletons; a swindler; also used of a horse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > defrauder or swindler > [noun]
feature14..
frauderc1475
prowler1519
lurcher1528
defrauder1552
frauditor1553
taker-upc1555
verserc1555
fogger1564
Jack-in-the-box1570
gilenyer1590
foist1591
rutter1591
crossbiter1592
sharker1594
shark1600
bat-fowler1602
cheater1606
foister1610
operator1611
fraudsman1613
projector1615
smoke-sellera1618
decoy1618
firkera1626
scandaroon1631
snapa1640
cunning shaver1652
knight of industrya1658
chouse1658
cheat1664
sharper1681
jockey1683
rooker1683
fool-finder1685
rookster1697
sheep-shearer1699
bubbler1720
gyp1728
bite1742
swindler1770
pigeon1780
mace1781
gouger1790
needle1790
fly-by-night1796
sharp1797
skinner1797
diddler1803
mace cove1811
mace-gloak1819
macer1819
flat-catcher1821
moonlight wanderer1823
burner1838
Peter Funk1840
Funk1842
pigeoner1849
maceman1850
bester1856
fiddler1857
highway robber1874
bunco-steerer1875
swizzler1876
forty1879
flim-flammer1881
chouser1883
take-down1888
highbinder1890
fraud1895
Sam Slick1897
grafter1899
come-on1905
verneuker1905
gypster1917
chiseller1918
tweedler1925
rorter1926
gazumper1932
chizzer1935
sharpie1942
sharpster1942
slick1959
slickster1965
rip-off artist1968
shonky1970
rip-off merchant1971
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > inferior or old and worn-out > that buyer pays too much for
flat-catcher1821
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > a charlatan, fraudster > [noun] > a sharper, swindler
hawk1548
huckster1556
shifterc1562
coney-catcher1591
sharker1594
shark1600
bat-fowler1602
guller1602
gull-groper1602
poop-noddy1616
int1631
shirk1639
knight of industrya1658
hockettor1672
biter1680
sharper1681
duffer1735
sharp1797
diddler1803
chevalier of industry1807
flat-catcher1821
thimble-man1830
thimblerigger1831
thimblerig1839
riggerc1840
chevalier of fortune1867
flim-flammer1881
spiv1929
sharpie1942
shrewd1954
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [noun] > something false or forged > horse
flat-catcher1821
1821 W. T. Moncrieff Tom & Jerry (1828) i. vi. 22 Do you think we shall get the flat-catcher [a horse] off to-day?
1841 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 202 Buttoners are those accomplices of thimbleriggers..whose duty it is to act as flat-catchers or decoys, by personating flats.
1864 London Rev. 18 June 643/2 ‘The Bobby’ or chinked-back horse, is another favourite flat-catcher.
flat-catching n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > [noun]
defraudc1450
defraudationc1503
fraudingc1530
defrauding1548
cheateryc1555
cheatingc1555
versing1591
begeckc1600
sharking1602
shaving1606
rooking1635
defraudment1645
emunging1664
prowlerya1670
bilking1687
sharping1692
mace1742
fineering1765
swindling1769
highway robbery1777
macing1811
flat-catching1821
ramping1830
swindlery1833
rigging1846
diddlinga1849
suck-in1856
daylight robbery1863
cooking1873
bunco-steering1875
chousing1881
fiddling1884
verneukery1896
padding1900
verneukering1900
bobol1907
swizzle1913
ramp1915
swizz1915
chizzing1948
tweedling1975
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > [noun] > action
bulling1532
cogging1570
cozening1576
coney-catching1591
fool-taking1592
gulling1600
bat-fowling1602
sharking1602
imposturing1618
mountebanking1672
shamming1677
sharping1692
fineering1765
overreachinga1774
pigeoning1808
flat-catching1821
thimble-shifting1834
thimblerigging1839
strawing1851
thimbling1857
fiddling1884
piking1884
ramping1891
1821 P. Egan Tom & Jerry 346 The no-pinned hero..gave, as a toast, ‘Success to Flat-catching’.
C2. Special combinations. Also flat-boat n., flat-bottom n., flat cap n., flatfish n., flat-foot n., head n.1, etc.
flat-arch n. (see A. 1b).
flat-back n. (a) (see quot. 1888); (b) slang a bed bug (Farmer); (c) a book whose back is flat when the book is closed; (d) various other technical senses (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > book of specific form or colour > [noun] > with specific type of back or cover
blue book1633
green book1798
paperback1843
paper cover1843
yellowback1859
flat-back1888
greenback1893
paperbound1933
softback1951
hardback1953
hardcover1953
pocketbook1953
softcover1953
trade paperback1960
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun] > other knives
bollock knifec1400
paring knife1415
spudc1440
pricking-knifec1500
shaving-knife1530–1
by-knifec1570
heading knife1574
stock knife1582
drawing knife1583
bung-knife1592
weeding knife1598
drawing knife1610
heading knife1615
draw knife1679
dressing knife1683
redishing knife1688
mocotaugan1716
skinning knife1767
paper knife1789
draw shave1824
leaf-cutter1828
piece-knife1833
nut-pick1851
relic knife1854
butch1859
straw-knife1862
sportsman's companion1863
ulu1864
skinner1872
hacker1875
over-shave1875
stripping-knife1875
Stanley knife1878
flat-back1888
gauge-knife1888
tine-knife1888
plough1899
band-knife1926
X-Acto1943
shank1953
box cutter1955
ratchet knife1966
ratchet1975
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield 76 Flat-back, a common knife with its back filed down after it is put together.
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 226/1 Flat backs, whole bound or half bound books whose backs have the leather firmly glued or pasted to them.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 339/1 Flat-back (Moulding), a pattern having a flat upper surface at the joint of the mould, so lying wholly within the drag or bottom half.
1957 C. W. Mankowitz & R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Eng. Pottery & Porcelain 53/1 Intended for display on the mantelpiece; often of a ‘flat-back’ type, modelled and decorated on one side only.
1963 C. R. Cowell et al. Inlays, Crowns, & Bridges xii. 140 ‘Steele's’ flatbacks—these are useful for patients with close bites.
Categories »
flat bastion n. Fortification a bastion placed in front of a ‘curtain’.
† flat-bean n. Obsolete a name for some species of Lupinus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pea flowers > lupins
electreOE
lupinec1420
flat-bean1597
fig-bean1657
tree lupine1882
blue bonnet1901
Russell1937
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 1042 Of the flat Beane called Lupine.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden ccxii. 333 Some call them [Lupines] Flat-beans.
flat-bedded adj. Geology having a naturally plane cleavage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > texture or colour > [adjective] > texture > laminated
scaly1538
scissile1552
platy1789
flat-bedded1793
schistose1794
schistous1803
sheeted1903
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §221 No quarries affording flat bedded stones having occurred.
flat-bill n. a name for certain birds having broad, flat bills, e.g. a bird of the genus Platyrhynchus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > [noun] > family Tyrannidae (tyrant-bird) > member of genus Platyrhynchus
flat-bill1860
1860 P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 17 The flat-bill uttered his plaintive wail.
flat-body n. Entomology the name of a moth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tineidae > tinea applana (flat-body)
flat-body1819
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 443 Tinea applana, the common Flat-body.
1860 J. Curtis Farm Insects 411 The..Flat-body Moth.
flat bug n. any of the family Aradidæ of bugs, which are very flat and live chiefly under the bark of trees.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Heteroptera > family Aradidae > member of
flat bug1895
1895 J. H. Comstock & A. B. Comstock Man. Study Insects xiv. 139 The flat-bugs..are the flattest of all bugs, the body appearing as if it had been stepped upon.
1921 Trans. Amer. Entom. Soc. 47 1 Every entomologist is in a general way familiar with the ‘flatbugs’ of the Hemipterous genus Aradus, which are often met with beneath the dead bark of trees, but no systematic treatment of the numerous..species has ever been attempted.
1923 W. E. Britton Guide Insects Connecticut iv. 11 It is believed the Aradidæ or ‘flat bugs’, are predatory on insects and other small animals.
1959 T. R. E. Southwood & D. Leston Land & Water Bugs Brit. Isles ii. 13 A. cinnamomeus differs from other flatbugs whose habits are known in not being a fungus feeder, for it lives on pine sap.
flat candle n. a candle used in a flat-candlestick.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [noun] > used in specific type of candlestick
pricketa1331
flat candle1836
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 176 The flaring flat candle with the long snuff.
flat candlestick n. one with a broad stand and short stem; a bedroom-candlestick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > support or holder for a candle > [noun] > candlestick > with broad stand and short stem
flat candlestick1493
sconce1834
1493 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 81 Another flatt candelstyke of laton.
1859 W. Collins Haunted House: Ghost in Cupboard Room in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 13 Dec. 22/1 A bedroom candlestick and candle, or a flat candlestick and candle—put it which way you like.
flatcar n. U.S. ‘a railroad-car consisting of a platform without sides or top; a platform-car’ ( Cent. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage > without sides
truck1838
trolley1858
flatcar1881
piggyback1946
1881 Chicago Times 18 June Demolishing a couple of flat-cars.
flat-chased adj. [chased adj.2]
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [adjective] > chased
beatena1300
chased1438
dent1508
flat-chased1956
1956 G. Taylor Silver iv. 73 Flat-chased or embossed in such low relief as to be almost indistinguishable from flat-chasing.
flat chasing n. (see quot. 1960).
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > chasing
chasing1833
flat chasing1960
1960 H. Hayward Connoisseur's Handbk. Antique Collecting 119/1 Flat chasing, surface decoration in low relief on precious metal, produced by hammering with small blunt tools. The characteristic feature of the process is that no metal is removed.
flat chisel n. a smoothing chisel.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > chisel > [noun] > other chisels
grooping-ironc1440
grubbing-ironc1440
grubbling iron1530
ripping-chisel1659
paring chisel1675
ripping-chisel1679
flat chisel1688
burr1794
tan-spud1828
spud1846
dogleg1855
jagger1875
pointer1875
spade-chisel1895
claw-chisel1933
burr-chisel-
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. viii. 359/1 The third is termed a Chissel, or a Flat Chissel.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §568 The flat chisel..is used for smoothing the work, or taking off the remaining wood that was left by the gouge.
flat-coil n. a pond-snail of the genus Planorbis, having its shell coiled in a plane.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > order Pulmonifera > Inoperculata > family Limnaeidae or Planorbidae > genus Planorbis > member of
post-horn pond snail1776
flat-coil1901
1901 E. Step Shell Life xvii. 319 The next section of these Pond-snails comprises the Flat-coils (Planorbis), made familiar by the typical species—the Ram's-horn or Trumpet-snail.
1926 A. E. Ellis Brit. Snails ii. 118 The snails of this family [sc. Planorbidæ] are popularly called Ram's-horns, Flat-coils, or Trumpet Snails.
flat-coiled adj.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [adjective] > belonging to order Pulmonifera > of or belonging to Inoperculata > of shells of genus Planorbis
planospiral1847
planispiral1890
flat-coiled1901
1901 E. Step Shell Life xiii. 234 The Skenea planorbis, whose reddish or tawny shell at first sight looks like one of the small fresh-water Flat-coiled Shells (Planorbis), whence its specific name.
1915 E. R. Lankester Diversions of Naturalist xxxiv. 346 The flat-coiled pond-snail, Planorbis.
flat-compounded adj. [compound v. 2f] Electrical Engineering (see quot. 1940 ).
ΚΠ
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. 828/1 Flat-compounded.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 339/1 Flat-compounded, said of a compound-wound generator the series winding of which has been so designed that the voltage remains constant at all loads between no-load and full-load.
flat-crown n. Architecture (a) = corona n.1 4; (b) a popular name for two trees, Albizzia gummifera and A. adianthifolia, both found in southern Africa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > African
shittima1382
citrus1555
cam-wood1699
jacaranda1753
kokerboom1774
quiver tree1789
geelhout1790
rooihout1790
yellowwood1790
mat-wood1792
assegai1793
assegai tree1793
hardpear1801
rooi els1801
argan1809
beaver-wood1810
mat tree1812
saffraan1819
salie1819
sneezewood1834
African teak1842
hyawaballi1851
sage-wood1854
mvule1858
til1858
yari-yari1858
cannibal stinkwood1859
kiaat1862
knobwood1862
milkwood1862
tryssil1862
sulphur-tree1863
khaya1864
cailcedra1866
flat-crown1868
umzimbeet1870
kuka1882
odum1887
iroko1890
opepe1891
Natal mahogany1904
muhimbi1906
obeche1906
agba1908
makoré1915
afara1920
agboin1920
abura1921
podo1922
afrormosia1923
guarea1936
Mansonia1936
dahoma1955
utile1956
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. at Corona The Flat-Crown, is..a particular Member in the Dorick Gate..it hath six times more Breadth than Projecture.
1868 J. Chapman Trav. Interior S. Afr. II. 451 The umbrella-like Flat-crown, common in the Berea-bush near D'Urban.
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 346 Flatcrown of Natal.
1897 ‘M. Twain’ More Tramps Abroad lxviii The ‘flat-crown’ (should be flat-roof)—half a dozen naked branches, full of elbows, slant upward like artificial supports, and fling a roof of delicate foliage out in a horizontal platform as flat as a floor.
1950 Cape Argus 18 Mar. (Mag.) 7/7 The Cape ebony, white stinkwood, flatcrown, essenhout and umzimbiti, trees that yield beautiful timber for furniture-making, grow in profusion in every kloof.
flat-earth adj. of or pertaining to the theory that the earth is flat.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > slightly mad > eccentric or cranky > specific
flat-earth1905
1905 Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 3/2 This Flat-Earth Society.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 21 Sept. 4/1 A lifelong upholder of the flat-earth theory.
1922 A. S. Eddington Theory of Relativity 26 Those who adhered to the flat-earth theory must hold that the flat map gives the true size of Greenland.
flat-earther n.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > crankiness or eccentricity > person > specific
mad scientist1893
flat-earth-man1908
flat-earther1934
1934 Punch 21 Nov. 562/1 Without being a bigoted flat-earther, he [sc. Mercator] perceived the nuisance..of fiddling about with globes..in order to discover the South Seas.
1963 Times 11 May 6/2 His treatment of appoggiaturas was that of a Flat Earther with spasmodic doubts.
flat-earth-man n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > crankiness or eccentricity > person > specific
mad scientist1893
flat-earth-man1908
flat-earther1934
1908 G. B. Shaw Fabian Ess. Socialism (new ed.) p. xii Fewer votes than one would have thought possible for any human candidate, were he even a flat-earth-man.
1951 W. H. Auden Nones (1952) 47 Lovers of small numbers go benignly potty,..are Millerites, Baconians, Flat-Earth-Men.
flat-feet n. (see quot.).
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society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > infantry > footguards
footguard1608
flat-feet1874
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 164 Flat-feet, the battalion companies in the Foot Guards.
flat-fell seam n. (see quot. 1964).
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > sewing or work sewn > seam > specific
seamc1394
round seam1626
fell1852
run and fell1852
French seam1882
dart1884
overseam1891
French seam1903
slot seam1918
jetting1923
channel seam1931
flat-fell seam1939
channel seaming1948
1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 58/2 Flat fell seam, flat, sturdy seam.
1964 McCall's Sewing in Colour ii. 28/2 Flat-fell, seam used on shirts, slacks and other tailored garments in which one seam is trimmed and the other stitched over it. Gives a flat, finished seam on both sides of the garment.
flat field n. Photography (see quots. 1904 for flat-back n., 1918).
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > parts and accessories of camera > [adjective] > types of lens
flat field1841
wide-angle1865
slow1867
wide-angled1873
fast1877
rapid1878
fish-eye1882
sharp1883
symmetrical1890
telephotographic1891
telephotographic lens1891
narrow-angle1893
stigmatic1896
tele-negative1898
tele-positive1898
bloomed1945
soft1945
wide-field1950
1841 R. Hunt Pop. Treat. Art of Photogr. 80 A photographic camera should possess, according to Sir John Herschel, ‘the three qualities of a flat field, a sharp focus,..and a perfect achromaticity’.
1871 Eng. Mechanic 24 Mar. 22/1 It will give abundance of light, but not a flat field.
1878 W. de W. Abney Treat. Photogr. 205 Since the manufacture of non-distorting doublets giving a fairly flat field has been perfected.
1893 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 41 384/2 The efforts of opticians..are being continually put forth in the direction of the attainment of..as near approach as possible to a ‘flat field’.
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 226/1 A lens is said to give a flat field when the image of a distant object is equally in focus, whatever part of the screen it occupies.
1918 Photo-Miniature Mar. 20 Flat field, applied to a lens which, when photographing a flat subject, e.g., a painting, gives equal definition in all parts of the plate.
1966 M. LaCour & I. T. Lathrop Photo Technol. x. 115/1 Enlarging lenses are designed to produce an extremely flat field.
flat film n. Photography film on a card or sheet (opposed to roll film); also elliptical as flat.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > plates and films > [noun] > film > types of film
film negative1871
roll1889
roll film1895
reversal film1929
colour film1930
lenticular film1934
pan1940
test strip1940
flat film1950
integral tripack1953
lith1955
overhead transparency1966
1950 Rev. Documentation 17 134 (title) The Microcopy on flat film as an aid in documentation.
1958 Engineering 31 Jan. 155/1 The two basic types—roll-film and ‘flats’, the latter including micro-cards and micro-sheet (or micro-fiches).
flat finish n. (see quot. 1940).
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the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > mat surface
flat1823
flat finish1913
1913 Sat. Evening Post 12 Apr. 43 (advt.) The beautiful, modern flat finish for interior walls and ceilings.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 339/1 Flat finish, a non-glossy finish, showing no brilliancy of surface.
flat-flame adj. yielding a flat flame.
ΚΠ
1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 99/1 Flat-flame burners, or burners which spread their flame in a broad thin sheet.
flat-four adj. of a four-cylinder engine in which two cylinders are placed on each side of the crankshaft and all the cylinders are parallel to the ground.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > other types of engine > [adjective] > other specific type
outdoor1874
flat-four1959
1959 ‘Motor’ Man. (ed. 36) 38 They [sc. each pair of cylinders] are at 180 degrees and the cylinders are parallel with the ground. This is known as the flat-four type.
1961 New Scientist 19 Jan. 162/2 The main features of the Ferguson ‘flat four’ design are aimed at obtaining the utmost rigidity of the crankcase.
flat-hammer n. ‘the hammer first used by the gold-beater in swaging out a pile of quartiers or pieces of gold ribbon’ (Knight).
† flat-house n. Obsolete ? a sheriff's office, a roofed shed for impounded animals.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal enclosure or house general > [noun] > enclosure > fold or pen > pound
pinfolda1170
penfold1382
pounda1425
pound open1530
pound close1567
poind1643
green yard1690
flat-house1698
1698 S. Sewall Diary 9 Mar. (1973) I. 388 Our Horses are broke out of themselves, or else are taken out of the stable..Sent presently to their flat-house, but hear nothing of them.
1706 S. Sewall Diary 25 Mar. (1973) I. 543 Surpris'd the Sheriff and his Men at the Flat-house.
flat impression n. Printing see flat pull n.
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society > communication > printing > printed matter > [noun] > proof
probe1563
proof1602
proof-sheet1688
proof slip1829
pull1845
flat pull1888
flat impression1890
1890 C. T. Jacobi Printing xxi. 185 Pull three or four good sound flat impressions, with not too much ink.
flat joint n. (a) Building (see quot. 1904); (b) U.S. slang (see quot. 1914).
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > disposition of stones or bricks > [noun] > types of joint
tenon and mortise1610
mortise and tenon1631
meeting1663
rustic1728
white joint1758
ground-joint1793
flat joint1825
hick-joint1842
perpend1867
struck joint1876
tuck-joint1879
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 555 In one kind of pointing, the courses are simply marked with the end of a trowel, called flat-joint pointing.
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 126/1 Flat joint, a mortar joint flush with the face of the wall.
1914 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 34 Flat joint. Current amongst open-air sure-thing men who operate at circus gatherings, fairs, carnivals, any gaming establishment... The ‘Shells’; ‘three card monte’; the ‘eight die case’..are all grafting flat joints. The term is derived from the essentiality in all of these crooked devices of a counter or other flat area across or upon which the swindle may be conducted.
1963 R. I. McDavid & D. W. Maurer Mencken's Amer. Lang. (new ed.) xi. 731 Carnival workers, and especially strong-joint or flat-joint operators, have a more or less secret argot.
flat-knit adj. of a fabric made by flat-knitting.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > knitted > knitted in specific way
plain1655
stockinet1824
handknit1840
stocking cloth1880
lock knit1926
jersey1938
fisherman's knit1960
Aran1962
flat-knit1963
string1964
1963 A. J. Hall Student's Handbk. Textile Sci. iii. 149 Large amounts of flat-knit fabric are produced with straight bar knitting machines.
1969 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring–Summer 19 Seamless stretch tights knit of nylon... Flat knit heels and toes.
flat-knitting n. a knitting process in which the needles on which the yarn is spun are set in a straight line.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > knitting > methods or styles of
Shetland knitting1846
purling1861
flat-knitting1939
intarsia1957
1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 58/2 Flat knitting, type of knitting done in flat form.
† flat-lap n. Obsolete a term describing a particular posture of the leaves of a plant (see quot.).
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the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > [noun] > arrangement
bow-lap1682
flat-lap1682
1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants i. iv. 31 Where the Leaves are not so thick set, as to stand in the Bow-Lap, there we have the Plicature, or the Flat-Lap.
flat-lead n. sheet lead.
flat-minded adj. (see quot. 1928).
ΚΠ
1885 G. Meredith Diana of Crossways I. i. 15 One is not astonished at her appearing an ‘actress’ to the flat-minded.
1928 Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I. 937/3 Flat-minded, lacking mental power, imagination, or feeling; devoid of prominent characteristics.
flat move n. slang see quot.
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the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > [noun] > failed attempt
stumblea1635
flash in the pan1705
false start1815
flat move1819
boss-shot1890
crash-and-burn1985
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) Any attempt or project that miscarries, or any act of folly or mismanagement in human affairs is said to be a flat move.
flat nail n. (see quot.).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nail > with flat head
tack1574
clasp-nail1721
flat nail1850
thumbtack1884
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 135 Flat nails are small sharp-pointed nails, with flat thin heads.
flat-orchil n. a kind of lichen, Roccella fusiformis, used as a dye (Ogilvie 18..).
flat pea n. the Australian genus Platylobium, from its flat pods ( Treasury Bot.).
† flat-piece n. Obsolete a shallow drinking-cup.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > shallow
flat-piece1422
quaich1546
whiskin1635
coupe1895
1422–3 Abingdon Acc. (Camden) 92 Item j. flatpece argenti.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 220/2 Flatte pece, tasse.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Kings vii. 50 Flat peces, charges, basens.
flat pliers n. pliers having the holding part or jaws flat.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > pliers and nippers > [noun] > types of
bender1496
wire pliers1675
wire-cutter1794
side nippers1846
long-nose pliers1872
hawkbill1875
flat pliers1881
parrotbill1971
burr-nipper-
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §275 A pair of flat pliers, of the ordinary kind.
flat pointing n. Building pointing in which the mortar is left even with the wall (see quot. 1940); hence flat-joint pointing.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > [noun] > pointing
pointing1374
snail-creep1593
teething1844
dinging1873
flat pointing1881
tuck pointing1881
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1201 In building there are two kinds of pointing, distinguished as flat pointing and tuck pointing, the latter being more ornamental than the former.
1891–3 Dict. Techn. & Trade Terms of Arch. Design 110/1 What is called ‘flat pointing’ is done by marking the joints of the brickwork with a flat trowel.
1900 Eng. Dial. Dict. II. 386/1 Kentish. In flat-pointing the mortar is smeared up against, and on to, the edges of each brick.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 339/2 Flat pointing, the method of pointing, used for uncovered internal wall surfaces, in which the stopping is formed into a smooth flat joint in the plane of the wall.
flat-pressing n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1875 Guide Royal Porcelain Wks. 13 The manufacture of plates and dishes is called Flat Pressing.
flat pull n. Printing (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printed matter > [noun] > proof
probe1563
proof1602
proof-sheet1688
proof slip1829
pull1845
flat pull1888
flat impression1890
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 44 Flat pull (or impression), a simple proof without under or overlaying.
flat race n. a race over clear and level ground, as opposed to hurdle-racing or steeple-chasing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > types of racing > types of race
wild-goose race1594
wild goose chase1597
bell-course1607
Palio1673
stake1696
paddock course1705
handicap1751
by-match1759
pony race1765
give and take plate1769
sweepstake1773
steeplechase1793
mile-heat1802
steeple race1809
welter1820
trotting-race1822
scurry1824
walkover1829
steeple hunt1831
set-to1840
sky race1840
flat race1848
trot1856
grind1857
feeler1858
nursery1860
waiting race1868
horse-trot1882
selling plate1888
flying milea1893
chase1894
flying handicap1894
prep1894
selling race1898
point-to-point1902
seller1922
shoo-in1928
daily double1930
bumper1946
selling chase1965
tiercé1981
1848 W. M. Thackeray Bk. Snobs xv. 58 Sporting Snobs..who..rode flat races.
flat-racer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > in specific kind of race
plate horse1740
flat1811
mile-horse1829
steeplechaser1839
plater1859
all-ages1864
trace-mate1880
chaser1884
flat-racer1886
handicapper1890
miler1894
point-to-pointer1929
1886 Earl of Suffolk & Berkshire & W. G. Craven in Earl of Suffolk et al. Racing & Steeple-chasing (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) i. 37 A few flat-racers have come over [from Ireland] to us.
flat-racing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > types of racing
steeple-hunting1772
quarter-racing1779
roading1787
pony racing1809
steeplechasing1816
steeple running1818
steeple racing1840
horse-trotting1857
plating1865
trotting1883
chasing1886
flat-racing1886
harness racing1901
flapping1911
flapper1928
point-to-pointing1952
pointing1976
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [adjective] > types of race
fast-run1820
welter1820
all-aged1838
flat-racing1886
illegitimate1888
novice1962
1886 A. Coventry & A. E. T. Watson Steeple-chasing in Earl of Suffolk et al. Racing & Steeple-chasing (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) ii. 289 As a rule, flat-racing is a bad preparation for the jumper.
1890 Daily News 17 Feb. 3/5 When the flat-racing season begins.
Categories »
flat-rail n. ‘a railroad rail consisting of a simple flat bar spiked to a longitudinal sleeper’ (Knight).
flat-ring adj. denoting an armature taking the form of a flat ring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > armature > [adjective] > type of
shunt-wound1883
flat-ring1884
bar-wound1902
former-wound1902
slot-wound1931
1884 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-electr. Machinery iii. 29 The flat-ring armature may be said to present a distinct type from those in which the ring tends to the cylindrical form.
1893 C. C. Hawkins & F. Wallis Dynamo 122 A second magnet..can be presented to the other face of the flat-ring core.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 577/2 The discoidal or flat-ring method.
flat rod n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1860 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) II. 226 Flat rods in mining, a series of rods for communicating motion from the engine, horizontally, to the pumps or other machinery in a distant shaft.
flat-rolled adj. formed by rolling between smooth cylindrical rollers.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > steel > [adjective] > processed in other manners
overblown1879
killed1884
cogged1888
fluid-compressed1888
sorbitized1927
flat-rolled1935
1935 H. L. Campbell Working of Steel iii. 29 Steel is supplied in the form of strips, sheets, plates, and bars. The following definitions apply to these classes of flat-rolled steel.
1962 Times 8 Feb. 3/1 Stainless flat-rolled products.
flat-roof v. (transitive) to cover with a flat roof.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > roof > provide with flat roof
flat-roof1717
1717 J. Tabor in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 30 562 The Græcians us'd to cover or Flat-roof their Houses with these [tessellated] Pavements.
flat rope n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 878/2 Some flat ropes, for mining-shafts, are made by sewing together a number of ropes, making a wide, flat band.
flat-sawn adj. (see quot. 1957).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [adjective] > cut or sawn > cut or sawn in specific manner
quarter cleft1666
listed1842
through-and-through-sawn1870
half-timber1874
rotary-cut1877
quarter-sawn1878
mill-run1881
flat-sawn1882
plain-sawed1888
plain-sawn1895
rift-sawn1895
radial sawn1958
radial sawed1972
1882 W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! I. v. 120 Rough split sections of the great logs..fixed in the ground..so as to bring their flat-sawn tops upon a uniform level.
1957 N.Z. Timber Jrnl. Mar. 52/1 Flat sawn, timber cut tangentially to the annual rings and giving flat grain.
flat screen n. (a) a television screen that is flat rather than gently curved; usually attributive with hyphen; (b) a computer display that is thin in relation to its two visible dimensions.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [adjective] > relating to monitor
screen-oriented1965
flat screen1970
active matrix1975
screen-based1977
multiscreen1984
Multisync1990
1970 New Scientist 4 June 474/1 The development of flat-screen television has been held back by the complexity of scanning systems for thin, flat cathode ray tubes.
1978 Government Data Systems July–Aug. 24/3 The displays of the future may well be electrochromic, cathodochromic, PLZT, gas plasma, flat-screen liquid crystals, or electroluminescent.
1983 Austral. Personal Computer Sept. 5/2 (heading) No rise for flat screen displays.
1986 Times 1 Feb. 11/1 Tomorrow's home entertainment—flat-screen, high quality television.
flat seam n. Nautical (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Flat-seam, the two edges or selvedges of canvas laid over each other and sewed down.
flat-sheets n. plural (a) Mining (see quots.); (b) Geology and Mining ‘thin beds, flat veins, or blanket veins or deposits of some mineral usually different from the adjacent layers; often contact-deposits’ ( Standard Dict.).
ΚΠ
1869 R. B. Smyth Gold Fields Victoria 611 Flat-sheets, sheet iron flooring at the brace and in the plats and junction of drives to facilitate the turning and management of trucks.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Flat sheets, smooth iron plates laid over an even floor at a pit bank, on which the tubs are run to be emptied or returned to the cage.
flat silver n. North American knives, forks, spoons, and other eating or serving utensils made of or plated with silver (Webster 1961).
ΚΠ
1928 E. Post Etiquette 626 The most complete list of flat silver possible.
1968 Canad. Antiques Collector June 10/3 Of what we call ‘flat silver’ there were of course spoons.
flat-skein work n. Basket-making (see quot. 1943 and skein n.2 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > basket-making > [noun] > specific processes
pairing1611
straw-plaiting1834
flat-skein work1912
waling1912
1912 T. Okey Introd. Art of Basket-making xii. 143 Except for Flat Skein work, a purely local industry, skeins are chiefly used by the ordinary basket-maker for handling, and for siding up light work.
1943 A. G. Knock Willow Basketry 25 What can be called Flat-Skein Work is being used, each stroke lying as nearly as possible flatly upon the one underneath.
flat slab n. Building a concrete slab reinforced in two or more directions to enable it to be supported by columns, etc., without the use of beams or girders; also attributive, as flat-slab construction.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > manner of construction > specific
post and pan1517
superedification1610
superstructing1654
trabeation1831
post and petrail1867
post and tan1890
skeleton construction1891
flat-slab construction1906
unit construction1909
prefabrication1932
site assembly1941
sandwich construction1944
post and panel1954
prefabbing1954
post and beam1958
jettying1963
system building1964
biotecture1966
timber-framing1967
post and plaster1997
Passivhaus1998
1906 C. S. Hill in Buel & Hill Reinforced Concrete Constr. (ed. 2) ii. vii. 175 (heading) Flat slab construction.
1906 C. S. Hill in Buel & Hill Reinforced Concrete Constr. (ed. 2) ii. vii. 175 The arrangement of the reinforcement in flat-slab floors differs with the form of reinforcement used and with the form of slab arrangement.
1906 C. S. Hill in Buel & Hill Reinforced Concrete Constr. (ed. 2) ii. vii. 176 The accompanying drawings..show flat slab constructions with Columbian bars.
1960 K. Billig Struct. Concrete ii. xiv. 537 Because of the absence of exposed corners, flat-slab construction is less vulnerable in case of fire than beam-and-girder construction.
flat sour n. fermentation of tinned products by the action of micro-organisms which produce acid but not gas, and so do not cause distension of the tin; also (with hyphen) attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [noun] > decay or deterioration of food > of tin
flat sour1926
blowing1950
1926 Delineator July 52 In the canning of greens, asparagus, peas, beans and corn, flat sour seems to be responsible for more failures than any other one factor.
1943 J. G. Baumgartner Canned Foods iv. 63 The facultative anaerobic group of ‘flat-sour’ organisms are so called because they attack carbohydrates with resultant acid..formation.
1943 J. G. Baumgartner Canned Foods iv. 64 Products containing sugar or starch are particularly liable to undergo severe spoilage by the ‘flat-sour’ organisms.
flat space n. Euclidean space.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > Euclidean
Euclidean space1883
flat space1883
1873 W. K. Clifford tr. Riemann in Nature 1 May 16/1 These manifoldnesses in which the square of the line-element may be expressed as the sum of the squares of complete differentials I will call flat.]
1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 664/1 The space with which we are familiar..has been called flat space or homaloidal space to distinguish it from other spaces in which the curvature is not zero.
1949 J. L. Synge & A. Schild Tensor Calculus viii. 295 A space in which the curvature tensor vanishes identically is called flat.
1953 B. Spain Tensor Calculus v. 56 In a flat space the property of parallelism is independent of the choice of a curve.
flat spin n. Aeronautics a spin in which an aircraft descends in tight circles while not departing greatly from a horizontal attitude; figurative, a frenzy of agitation, a worried confusion of mind.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > apprehension > [noun] > state of trepidation
flighta1535
trepidation1625
twitter1653
trepidity1721
twitteration1775
trepidancy1840
twit1891
swivet1892
flat spin1917
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > [noun] > spin
spin1915
spinning1915
tailspin1916
flat spin1917
vrille1918
1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings iv. 104 Suddenly the machine quivered, swung to the left, and nearly put itself in a flat spin.
1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 23 Flat spin, to be in difficulties. Only applied to an airman. ‘On a flat spin’, in a bad position.
1928 Daily Mail 7 May 6/4 When a person becomes excited or confused, aviators say ‘He went into a flat spin’.
1930 Punch 30 Apr. 500 Getting into a flat spin over the perishing spelling.
1957 M. Spark Comforters vi. 126 It is possible for a man matured in religion by half a century of punctilious observance..to go into a flat spin when faced with some trouble which does not come within a familiar category.
1967 D. Piggott Gliding (ed. 2) xv. 90 Recovery from a flat spin is slow and unpredictable.
flat spot n. (see quot. 1940).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > petrol > carburettor > air or fuel ratio in
flat spot1935
1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 307/2 ‘Flat spot’, a term applied to a particular form of hesitation when the throttle is opened from the slow running position.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 339/2 Flat spot, in a carburettor, a point during increase of air flow (resulting from increased throttle opening or speed) at which the air-fuel ratio becomes so weak as to prevent good acceleration.
1962 Which? Apr. (Suppl.) 74/1 Drivers complained repeatedly of a carburation ‘flat spot’.
flat-square adj. of a file: one whose section is a rectangle.
ΚΠ
1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 299 The files are flat square.
flat-tail mullet n. an Australian fish ( Liza argentea); also flat-tailed mullet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Mugiloidei (mullets) > family Mugilidae > member of genus Liza (flat-tail mullet)
harder1658
flat-tail mullet1896
1896 F. G. Aflalo Sketches Nat. Hist. Austral. 232 The Flat-Tailed Mullet is also met with in estuaries.
1908 D. G. Stead Edible Fishes New S. Wales 43 In form the Flat-tail Mullet is more compressed or slab-sided than the Sea Mullet.
1951 T. C. Roughley Fish & Fisheries Austral. 35 The flat-tail mullet is found in all states except Tasmania.
flat-tool n. (a) ‘a turning chisel which cuts on both sides and on the end, which is square’ (Knight); (b) an elongated conical tool used in seal-engraving for bringing ribbons or monograms to a flat surface ( Cent. Dict.).
ΚΠ
1853 O. Byrne Handbk. Artisan 28 Flat tools for turning hard wood, ivory, and steel.
flat-top n. (a) U.S. a name for Vernonia noveboracensis; (b) U.S. slang an aircraft-carrier; also baby flat-top, a smaller (cargo, etc.) vessel converted into a carrier; (c) used attributively of a style of hairdressing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > North American > North American ironweed
flat-top1859
nigger lice1933
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > cut or cropped
roundinga1582
stumps1584
stubs1607
trim1608
tonsure1650
committee cut1691
rasure1737
crop1795
county crop1839
flat-top1859
prison cropc1863
clip1889
Dartmoor crop1930
razor cut1940
prison haircut1948
scissor cut1948
cut1951
pudding basin1951
short back and sides1965
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Iron Weed, a plant, called in the North-eastern States Flat Top.
1943 F. Pratt Navy has Wings 190 ‘Scratch one flat top,’ Commander Dixon's voice had shouted..through the ship's radio.
1943 Time 22 Nov. 26/3 That beats a previous high scorer: the escort carrier ‘B’.., another ‘baby flat-top’.
1955 ‘C. S. Forester’ Good Shepherd 170 Escort vessels and destroyers and baby flat-tops were coming off the ways as fast as America and England and Canada could build them.
1956 L. S. Trusty Art & Sci. Barbering 93 The principal feature of the Flat Top style is the flat top... The top should be visualized as flat and smooth as the bristles of a brush and in length from 1 and 1/ 2 to 3/ 4 of an inch.
1957 N.Y. Times 2 June vi. 26/1 A stiff version [of the crew cut] is the Flat Top Crew.
flat tuning n. [tuning n.] Radio (see quot. 1940).
ΚΠ
1933 ‘R. Stranger’ Dict. Wireless Terms 72 Flat tuning. A receiver is said to possess flat tuning when a station can be heard over a wide range of movement of the condenser dial.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 339/2 Flat tuning, inability of a tuning system to discriminate sharply between signals having different frequencies.
flat turn n. Aeronautics (see quot. 1935).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [noun] > turn
Immelmann turn1917
Immelmann1918
flat turn1934
stall turn1942
1934 V. M. Yeates Winged Victory i. ix. 86 An Avro would do anything you wanted..even do a flat turn just for fun if you kicked the rudder with decision.
1935 P. W. F. Mills Elem. Pract. Flying vi. 88 Turns made without any bank, or flat turns, as they are called.
flat water n. local patches of oily water in the sea, indicating the presence of pilchards.
ΚΠ
1927 Glasgow Herald 10 Sept. 4 We cruise back and forward watching for signs. The chief of these is ‘flat’ water, as the men call the smooth, oily patches that so puzzle landward folk.
flat work n. (a) Mining (see quot. 1851); (b) a piece of material of any kind wrought into a flat shape; (c) Laundry (see quot. 1928); (d) (in plural) (see quot. 1882).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > clothes to be or that have been washed > type of
handwashing1793
coloured1884
flat work1921
1653 E. Manlove Liberties & Customes Lead-mines Derby 264 Roof-works, Flat-works, Pipe-works.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 335 In hammering of this flatwork they beat the plates first one by one.
1851 T. Tapping Gloss. in Chron. Customs Lead Mines at Meer Flat Work, a mining term descriptive of a species of lead mine, so called from its form, which is broad, spreading horizontally, not without inclination.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 598 Section of Mineral deposits in Limestone, Derbyshire..f, spaces between the beds enlarged by solution and filled with minerals or ores (‘flat-works’).
1906 Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 9/11 Speaking generally, there has certainly been no rise during recent years, especially in what we call ‘flat’ articles—tablecloths, and such things.]
1921 Electrician 11 Mar. 304/2 In the United States..some women use their power wringer as a cold mangle for the smaller pieces of ‘flat-work’.
1928 Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I. 937/3 Flat work (Laundry), articles that are not to be starched, as, sheets or pillow-cases, in distinction from starched articles, as, waists, collars, etc.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
flat-worm n. Zoology an animal of the class Platyhelmintha.
C3. General attributive.
a. In parasynthetic adjectives.
flat-backed adj.
ΚΠ
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 185/1 Flat Backed, when it [Grey-Hound] is even between the neck, and spaces.
flat-billed adj.
ΚΠ
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xix. 154 Flat-bild birds. View more context for this quotation
1694 Philos. Trans. 1693 (Royal Soc.) 17 990 All Flat-bill'd Birds that groped for their Meat.
flat-breasted adj.
ΚΠ
1667 N. Fairfax in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 548 This Woman was as flat-breasted as a Man.
flat-browed adj.
ΚΠ
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist I. viii. 123 A snub-nosed, flat-browed..boy.
flat-capped adj.
ΚΠ
1947 J. Mulgan Report on Experience 18 Tenement houses crowded with pale, flat-capped working men.
1961 H. E. Bates Now sleeps Crimson Petal 25 A muscular flat-capped skittles player who drove a brewers' dray.
flat-chested adj.
ΚΠ
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 123 She is..aukwark, flat-chested, and stooping.
1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 113 Flat-chested, crop-headed, chemicalised women, of indeterminate sex.
1939 M. Dickens One Pair of Hands vi. 97 It sounds so governessy and flat-chested.
flat coated adj.
ΚΠ
1872 ‘Stonehenge’ Dogs Brit. Islands (ed. 2) 89 The flat-coated or short-coated small St. John's or Labrador breed [of retriever].
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 109 Our sheep..their wild ancestors, the active and flat-coated animals which still feed on the stony mountain-tops.
1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Brit. 227 Another of the lesser-known varieties is the Flat-coated Retriever.
flat-crowned adj.
ΚΠ
1664 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 8 For a new hat flat-croun'd 7s. 6d.
flat-cut adj.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 173 A flatcut suit of herringbone tweed.
flat-decked adj.
ΚΠ
1884 J. Colborne With Hicks Pasha in Soudan 97 A flat-decked vessel.
flat-edged adj.
ΚΠ
1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xiv. 311 They were walking home in a whirl of the coldest, most flat-edged wind they had ever known.
flat-ended adj.
ΚΠ
1859 M. I. O. Gascoigne Handbk. Turning (new ed.) 97 A fine flat-ended tool.
flat-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. II. viii. 143 The Sea..a melancholy flat-faced thing.
flat-floored adj.
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 304 Flat-floored boats.
flat-handled adj.
ΚΠ
1676 London Gaz. No. 1059/4 Flat-handled Silver Spoons.
flat-heeled adj.
ΚΠ
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 96 Shoes..flat-heeled.
1890 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 183 The hand of every honest man flat-heeled across your mouth.
flat-hoofed adj.
ΚΠ
1697 London Gaz. No. 3301/4 A..punch Horse..flat Hoofed.
flat-leaved adj.
ΚΠ
1926 D. H. Lawrence Sun i. 5 The flat-leaved cactus called prickly pear.
flat-mouthed adj.
ΚΠ
?a1400 Morte Arth. 1088 Fflatt mowthede as a fluke.
flat-pearled adj.
ΚΠ
1924 E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty vi. 28 Upon the flat-pearled and fantastic shore.
flat-pointed adj.
ΚΠ
1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II Flat-pointed Nails.
flat-ribbed adj.
ΚΠ
1684 London Gaz. No. 1908/4 One Dark brown Gelding..a little flat Ribb'd.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 185/2 Flat Ribbed, is when the both side Ribbs [of a Grey-Hound] cling and are near to gather.
flat-roofed adj.
ΚΠ
1600 R. Hakluyt tr. J. Gonzalez de Mendoça in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 391 Their houses are flat-rooffed.
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred II. iv. xii. 336 Flat-roofed villages nestle amid groves of mulberry trees.
flat-soled adj.
ΚΠ
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 377 Their shooes are low and flat-soal'd.
1849 G. P. R. James Woodman I. ix. 171 The..tread of the abbess in her flat-soled sandal.
flat-stemmed adj.
ΚΠ
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. VI. 89 Flat-stemmed Meadow grass.
flat-surfaced adj.
ΚΠ
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 193 Place a flat-surfaced bottle empty on its side.
flat-toothed adj.
flat-topped adj.
ΚΠ
1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands i. ii. 32 The southern islet is..flat-topped.
flat-visaged adj.
ΚΠ
1774 Curtis in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 64 383 They are flat-visaged.
b. With present participle forming adjective, as flat-lying.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > [adjective]
lowc1300
lowland1567
humble1579
low country1581
bottomy1635
subjacent1648
flat-lying1762
down country1827
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. xiv. 256 Low flat-lying land.
1948 E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxiv. 19 A nice little town in the Tyrol in a wide flat-lying valley.
1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. v. 55/2 (caption) Flat-lying lodes of the Golden Point group.
c. With adjectives.
flat-icy adj.
ΚΠ
1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xiv. 308 So, in the flat-icy wind..they crouched.
flat-sleek adj.
ΚΠ
1922 E. Sitwell Façade 11 And finer Their black hair seemed (flat-sleek to see) Than the leaves of the springing Bohea.

Draft additions December 2004

flatbread n. any of various types of flat, thin, often unleavened, bread.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > [noun] > unleavened bread
biscuit cake1593
matzo1650
lavash1662
flatbread1762
fladbröd1799
damper1827
johnnycake1827
bammy1852
salt-rising bread1854
paratha1935
roti canai1974
roti prata1980
1762 P. Murdoch tr. A. F. Büsching New Syst. Geogr. I. 176 The same necessity [sc. hunger], it may be presumed, also put them upon baking the Fladen-brodt or Flat-bread, which is made of barley, oat, or rye-meal, in large, round, and very thin cakes.
1882 P. B. Du Chaillu Land Midnight Sun I. ix. 119 Milk, cream, butter, cheese, flat bread, and wild strawberries, which the children gathered for me, made up the every-day bill of fare.
2001 N.Y. Mag. 19 Nov. 85/1 Owner Moshe Harizy..bakes his own lafah, the flatbread that makes his turkey shawarma something special.

Draft additions June 2004

flat-panel adj. (a) designating something made using flat panels of material; (b) designating a thin, flat display screen for a television, computer, etc.; having such a screen.
ΚΠ
1906 Los Angeles Times 22 Aug. ii.6 (advt.) $13.50 mahogany finished rocker... Flat panel back.
1960 Jrnl. Applied Physiol. 20 796 (title) Flat panel vacuum thermal insulation.
1977 Aviation Week (Nexis) 11 July 59 Instruments and controls in current aircraft largely would be eliminated by a small number of cathode ray tube, holographic and flat panel displays, and one or more keyboard terminals for control and data entry.
2003 Times (Nexis) 26 Sept. 27 The US company's new product range will include a flat-panel TV and a digital music player.

Draft additions January 2011

flat white n. originally Australian espresso coffee served with steamed milk which has relatively little foam; a drink of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > coffee > [noun] > coffee with milk or cream
milk coffeec1695
café au lait1763
mélange1838
caffè latte1847
sergeant-major1923
café crème1936
cappuccino1948
mochaccino1963
flat white1971
latte macchiato1976
cortado1985
caffè macchiato1988
latte1989
skinny1992
1971 P. Shaffer in A. W. England Two Ages of Man 117 Bob: I asked her if she'd have a coffee with me... So we went to an expresso in South Ken. Ted: And held hands over two flat whites?
1987 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 16 June (Good Living section) 2 Deciding on coffee is just the beginning of the decision-making process at Johnny's. There's cappuccino, flat white, caffe latte, latte on the rocks, long black [etc.].
2010 Guardian 5 Mar. 25/5 The flat white may appear to be just another cup of coffee but aficionados plead otherwise.

Draft additions June 2017

Tennis. Of a shot: hit without spin.
ΚΠ
1919 Manch. Guardian 21 Apr. 8/5 Dodd has a flat forehand which he sometimes cuts.
1987 H. Brody Tennis Sci. for Tennis Players vi. 109 The topspin serve..bounces shorter than the no-spin (or flat) serve.
2006 Play: N.Y. Times Sports Mag. Sept. 53/3 The Eastern [grip]..is useful for playing low balls and for hitting clean, flat shots.

Draft additions June 2017

Tennis. With reference to a shot: with the racket face flat against the ball on impact, rather than moving across it; (hence) without spin.
ΚΠ
1915 Sci. Amer. 18 Sept. 254/1 With..some beginners the ball may sometimes be hit thus flat.
1954 Observer 2 May 12/3 She hit the ball flat, and deeply, into the court.
2014 M. Hodgkinson Game, Set & Match 109 On grass,..you have to play the ball very flat and you need to be able to change the direction of the ball very quickly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† flatv.1

Forms: Past tense Middle English flat(te, flattide.
Etymology: < Old French flatir, flater to dash, hurl, (intransitive) to dash, be thrown down.
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To cast suddenly, dash.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > throw [verb (transitive)] > suddenly
shootc1075
flapc1320
flatc1330
spang1513
yark1568
flirt1582
cant1685
jerk1708
flip1712
shuttle1823
spring1884
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 9748 Arthour..Wiþ his sextene, þat on hem plat, And euerich a paien to deþ flat.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 224 Til vigilate þe veil fette water at his eiȝen, And flatte [v.r. flat, flattide it] on his face.
1375 Cantic. de Creatione 221 in Anglia I. 303 etc. Doun she flat here face to grounde.
2. To smite or strike; in quots. absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)]
slay971
smitelOE
flatc1330
flap1362
acoupc1380
frapa1400
girda1400
hit?a1400
knocka1400
swap?a1400
wapa1400
castc1400
strike1509
befta1522
to throw about one1590
cuff1596
to let down1640
dunch1805
yark1818
bunt1867
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 9562 Bothe on helmes and ysen hatten, The dintes of swordes flatten.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vii. 174 Þenne Faytors..flapten [v.r. flatte, flatten] on with fleiles from morwe til euen.
3. intransitive. To dash, rush; to dart out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly and suddenly
windc897
shootc1000
smite?c1225
flatc1300
lash13..
girda1400
shock?a1400
spara1400
spritc1400
whipc1440
skrim1487
glance1489
spang1513
whip1540
squirt1570
flirt1582
fly1590
sprunt1601
flame1633
darta1640
strike1639
jump1720
skite1721
scoot1758
jink1789
arrow1827
twitch1836
skive1854
sprint1899
skyhoot1901
catapult1928
slingshot1969
book1977
c1300 Arth. & Merl. 5672 For the mouthe he [a dragon] had grininge And the tong out flattinge.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xvii. 275 The saisnes were so many that thei moste flat in-to the foreste wolde thei or noon.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

flatv.2

Brit. /flat/, U.S. /flæt/
Etymology: < flat adj.
†1. transitive. To lay flat or level, raze, overthrow (a person or building). Const. to, with (the earth or ground). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > bring to the ground/lay low
layc888
afelleOE
to throw downa1250
groundc1275
to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275
stoopc1275
evena1382
abatec1390
to bring downa1400
falla1400
welt?a1400
throwa1450
tumble1487
succumb1490
strewa1500
vaila1592
flat1607
level1614
floor1642
to fetch down1705
drop1726
supplant1751
1607 T. Middleton Revengers Trag. ii. sig. D2v I durst vndertake..With halfe those words to flat a Puritanes wife.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. v. 447/2 Some few [Forts] wherof..he flatted to the ground.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. iv. sig. H4v She hath..flatted their strongest Forts.
1637 T. Heywood Royall King i. i His bright sword..Pierced the steel crests of barbarous infidels, And flatted them with earth.
2. Nautical.
a. To force (the sail) flat or close against the mast. Cf. flat adj. 2e to flat in a sail (see quot. 1772); also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > trim sails > force sail against mast
flata1642
a1642 W. Monson Naval Tracts (1704) iii. 329/2 He hears the Seamen cry..flat a Sheet.
1670 J. Dryden & W. Davenant Shakespeare's Tempest i. 3 Flat, flat, flat in the Fore-sheat there.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 25 Who flatted their Sails and laid by till the Spanish Ship came up.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Aback The situation of the sails when their surfaces are flatted against the masts by the force of the wind.
1772 J. H. Moore Pract. Navigator (1810) 275 To flat in, to draw in the aftermost lower corner or clue of a sail towards the middle of a ship, to give the sail a greater power to turn the vessel. To flat in forward, to draw in the fore-sheet, jib-sheet [etc.], towards the middle of the ship.
†b. intransitive. Of a ship: To turn her head from the wind; to go round on her keel. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > avail oneself of a wind [verb (intransitive)] > go about > by tacking
traverse1568
to cast about1591
to throw about1591
staya1613
flat1622
cast1671
to put about1712
to come about1777
to throw round1882
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea xxxiv. 85 For in lesse then her length, shee flatted, and in all the Voyage but at that instant, shee flatted with difficultie.
†c. Of the wind: To abate, drop. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > fine weather > [verb (intransitive)] > become calm (of weather or the elements)
calm1399
falla1400
lown?a1600
to fall calm1601
serenify1612
subside1680
lin1693
flat1748
flatten1748
lull1808
to go down1873
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. i. 297 The wind flatted to a calm.
3. transitive. To make flat in shape.
a. To reduce to a plane surface; to reduce or obliterate the convexity, projections, or protuberances of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > make flat or level [verb (transitive)]
evenlOE
slighta1300
planec1350
complanec1420
levelc1450
dismount1563
planish1580
equalize1596
equal1610
to even out1613
flat1613
flattena1631
complanate1643
platten1688
reconcile1712
range1825
macadamize1826
lay1892
plata1903
1613 M. Ridley Short Treat. Magneticall Bodies 5 Egge forme flatted at the bottome.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §477 Take two Twigs of seuerall Fruit Tres, and flat them on the Sides.
1684 R. Waller tr. Ess. Nat. Exper. Acad. del Cimento 76 The Ball..was flatted so, that it would stand upon the bottom.
1697 T. Creech tr. Manilius Five Bks. iv. xxvi. 33 She..Distends their swelling Lips, and flats their Nose.
1803 ‘C. Caustic’ Terrible Tractoration (ed. 2) i. 50 Suppose that the earth was flatted near the poles.
1857 Fraser's Mag. 56 608 The smooth crisp curves..become cockled, flatted, and destroyed.
b. To make broad and thin; to reduce the thickness or height of, esp. by pressure or percussion; to squeeze or beat flat. Also with down, out.Now chiefly in technical use; ordinarily flatten adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being broad in relation to thickness > make broad in relation to thickness [verb (transitive)]
drive?a1475
flat1651
flatten1728
smooth1859
spread1859
pancake1879
1651 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 285 The bullet itself was flatted.
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 279 In drying them [sc. apricots]..leave them whole..only flatting them, that they may drie equally in every part.
1736 Compl. Family-piece i. ii. 125 Make them into Loaves, and flat them down a little.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 99 The composition is at length flatted out until it becomes a small leaf.
1780 tr. U. von Troil Lett. on Iceland 356 Fishes..which are to be found in slate, have been compressed or flatted.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow III. xx. 304 Smallbones was flatted to a pancake.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 128 A suitable stone is selected and flatted to a proper thickness by holding it against a diamond mill which is kept wetted.
c. To spread or lay out flat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > extend [verb (transitive)] > spread (something) out or open
abredeeOE
bredeOE
stretcha1000
to-spreada1000
openOE
spreadc1175
displayc1320
to let outc1380
to open outc1384
outspreada1400
spald?a1400
splayc1402
expand?a1475
to lay along1483
speld?a1500
skail1513
to set abroad1526
to lay abroad1530
flarec1550
bespread1557
to set out1573
dispread1590
explaina1600
expanse1600
dispack1605
splat1615
dispand1656
extend1676
flat1709
spelder1710
spreadeagle1829
1709 W. Congreve tr. Ovid Art of Love iii. 190 A Face too long shou'd part and flat the Hair.
†4.
a. intransitive. To become flattened. Of a swelling: To go down, lose its roundness. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being broad in relation to thickness > become broad in relation to thickness [verb (intransitive)]
platc1450
flat1670
the world > health and disease > healing > recovery > process of healing of an injury, etc. > of injury, etc.: heal [verb (intransitive)] > of swelling: go down
unbolnea1425
vail?c1450
fall1565
flat1670
detumefy1684
1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iii. 143 A Harquebuss-shot..that passing through one of his cheeks..flatted upon his Gorget.
1680 W. Temple Ess. Cure of Gout in Miscellanea 214 I..observed the skin about it to shrink, and the swelling to flat yet more than at first.
1726 J. Huxham Small-pox in Philos. Trans. 1725 (Royal Soc.) 33 393 His Pox flatted and grew pale.
b. U.S. to flat off: to slope gradually to a level. to flat out: to become gradually thinner; (also) to relax; to talk feebly. Hence figurative to fail in business; to prove a failure, to collapse, etc.
ΚΠ
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) To Flat out, to collapse, to prove a failure..as ‘The meeting flatted out’.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) ix. 166 The bank flatted off for the last ten miles.
1863 ‘G. Hamilton’ Gala-days 89 Before twelve o'clock we flatted out and made jests.
1864 H. Bushnell Work & Play, Growth of Law 123 The great surge of numbers rolls up noisily and imposingly, but flats out on the shore and slides back into the mud of oblivion.
1865 J. G. Holland Plain Talks iv. 129 Those who have failed in trade..or to use an expressive Yankee phrase, have ‘flatted out’ in a calling or profession.
1887 Proctor Americanisms in Knowledge 1 June 184/1 To flat out, to diminish in value—a Western phrase suggested by the diminished productiveness of metallic layers as they grow thinner.
†5. ? To find the horizontal area of (land). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1770 E. Heslerton Inclos. Act 13 To flat, set out, and allot the lands.
†6.
a. transitive. To render (wine, etc.) insipid or vapid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > wine-making > [verb (transitive)] > make flat or insipid
flat1626
debilitatec1720
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §377 An Orenge, Limon and Apple..fresh in their Colour, But their Iuyce somewhat flatted.
1669 W. Charleton Mysterie of Vintners in Two Disc. 170 The Genuine Spirits of the Wine also are much flatted and impaired.
1694 W. Westmacott Θεολοβοτονολογια 211 To demonstrate by what Principles Wines and Spirits are made, exalted, depressed, and flatted.
†b. To make dull or spiritless; to make less lively or vivid; to deaden, depress. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > make dejected [verb (transitive)]
drearya1300
discomfortc1325
batec1380
to cast downa1382
to throw downa1382
dullc1386
faintc1386
discomfita1425
discourage1436
sinkc1440
mischeera1450
discheerc1454
amatea1500
bedowa1522
damp1548
quail1548
dash1550
exanimate1552
afflict1561
dank1565
disanimate1565
sadden1565
languish1566
deject1581
dumpc1585
unheart1593
mope1596
chill1597
sour1600
disgallant1601
disheart1603
dishearten1606
fainten1620
depress1624
sullen1628
tristitiate1628
disliven1631
dampen1633
weigh1640
out-spirit1643
dispirit1647
flat1649
funeralize1654
hearta1658
disencourage1659
attrist1680
flatten1683
dismalizec1735
blue-devil1812
out-heart1845
downweigh1851
to get down1861
frigidize1868
languor1891
downcast1914
neg1987
1649 Εἰκων Βασιλικη xvi. 141 Nor are constant Formes of Prayers more likely to flat and hinder the Spirit of prayer and devotion.
1692 Bp. G. Burnet Disc. Pastoral Care ix. 111 So great a length does..flat the Hearers, and tempt them to sleep.
1695 J. Collier Misc. upon Moral Subj. 85 Any considerable Degrees of Sickness, or Age, flat the Senses.
1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. 39 Articles (1700) x. 118 That Impression is worn out and flatted.
1710 J. Norris Treat. Christian Prudence vi. 278 A multitude of words..which serve only to flat and deaden out devotion.
†c. intransitive. To become dull, depressed or feeble; to droop, to slacken. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > become less violent or severe [verb (intransitive)] > lose vigour or intensity
swindOE
wane1297
forslacka1300
keelc1325
deadc1384
abatea1387
flag1639
to go off1642
subsidea1645
slacken1651
flat1654
lower1699
relax1701
deaden1723
entame1768
sober1825
lighten1827
sletch1847
slow1849
languish1855
bate1860
to slow up1861
to slow down1879
1654 T. Fuller Ephemeris Parliamentaria Pref. sig. ¶4 Their loyalty flatteth and deadeth by degrees.
1692 W. Temple Mem. in Wks. I. 448 The Hopes of those great Actions..began to flat.
a1718 W. Penn Maxims in Wks. (1726) I. 819 Our Resolutions are apt to flat again upon fresh Temptations.
7. Music. To lower (a note) by one semitone.In some modern dictionaries.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > set pitch [verb (transitive)] > lower pitch > by semitone
flat1654
1654 [implied in: J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick 7 The B Cleaves..doth onely serve for that purpose for the flatting and sharping of Notes. (at flatting n.1 3)].
1685 R. Boyle Ess. Effects of Motion vii. 88 A determinate note, which..was Ce fa ut a little flatted.
1868 Harper's Mag. Aug. 429/2 A bull..commenced to bellow, which awoke our friend, who..exclaimed—dreaming, of course, that some member of his class was exercising his vocal organ—‘I say, you have flatted your A, and it won't do!’
1895 N. Amer. Rev. July 11 When a person has a poor ear for music, he will flat and sharp right along.
1944 W. Apel Harvard Dict. Music 332/2 Variants in which some of the original tones are flatted.
8.
a. To cover (a surface) with flat, i.e. lustreless, paint.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > decorating and painting > decorate [verb (transitive)] > paint > paint with flat paint
flat1842
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to medium or technique > paint according to medium or technique [verb (transitive)] > other techniques
pencilc1500
water1733
flat1842
to oil out1859
marouflage1964
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. iii. 618 The ceilings..to be painted..and flatted and picked in such extra colours as may be directed.
1858 Skyring's Builders' Prices 95 Moulded Skirtings..If flatted, add 0½d.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 15 May 1/2 Preferring to set it [a picture] on one side after it has been flatted in.
b. Carriage-building. To remove the gloss from (a surface) preparatory to varnishing.
ΚΠ
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 222/1 Apply a second coat of black Japan, and flat again. The whole should then be varnished with hard drying varnish, flatted down and finished.
c. To apply a finish of size to (gilding) as a protection.
ΚΠ
1841 in S. Maunder Sci. & Lit. Treasury
9. U.S. colloquial. To give a flat refusal to; to reject (a lover). Cf. flat n.3 16.
ΚΠ
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) To flat, to reject a lover; as..‘She flatted him’.
10. intransitive. To fish from a flat n.3 9a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (intransitive)] > from a boat
flat1630
belly boat1984
1630 Order in R. Griffiths Ess. Jurisdict. Thames (1746) 75 That every Hebberman shall fish by the Shore..and not to lie a Floating or Flatting for Smelts between two Anchors in the Midst of the Stream.
11. To saw lengthwise through the thickness of a plank, deal, or batten, so reducing the width.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > work with wood [verb (intransitive)] > saw > in specific manner
flat1883
1883 M. P. Bale Saw-mills 333 Flatting, sawing through the flat or thinnest way of boards.
1945 J. W. Bush in N. W. Kay Pract. Carpenter & Joiner iv. 68 This machine is most useful for..flatting, that is, resawing deals into scantlings.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† flatv.3

Forms: In 1600s flatt.
Etymology: ? < Latin flāt- participial stem of flāre to blow.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. ? To blow (a trumpet).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing wind instrument > play wind instrument [verb (transitive)] > sound trumpet
brag1382
tucka1400
warblea1400
flat1675
1675 H. Teonge Diary 25 Dec. (1825) 127 Chrismas day wee keepe thus. At 4 in the morning our trumpeters all doe flatt their trumpetts, and begin at our Captain's cabin..playing a levite at each cabine doore.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

† flatv.4

Etymology: ? < Old French flat-er to flatter v.1; compare however flaite v.1
Obsolete.
To flatter; in quot. a1522 absol.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > flatter [verb (intransitive)]
fikea1225
flatter?c1225
ficklec1230
blandisha1340
smooth1340
glaver1380
softa1382
glozec1386
to hold (also bear) up oila1387
glothera1400
flaitec1430
smekec1440
love?a1500
flata1522
blanch1572
cog1583
to smooth it1583
smooth1587
collogue1602
to oil the tongue1607
sleek1607
wheedle1664
pepper1784
blarney1837
to pitch (the) woo1935
flannel1941
sweet-talk1956
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. Prol. 240 Quhat slycht dissait quently to flat and feyn.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

flatv.5

Brit. /flat/, U.S. /flæt/, Australian English /flæt/, New Zealand English /flɛt/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: flat n.2
Etymology: < flat n.2
Australian and New Zealand.
1. intransitive. To live in a flat; to share a flat with one or more flatmates. Dict. N.Z. Eng. (1997) at that entry notes that ‘Dr Desmond Hurley recalls the term flat with (others) from late 1940s student use’.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > inhabit type of place [verb (intransitive)] > dwell in or as in other buildings
cabin1586
den1610
stable1651
hut1691
templea1711
bog-trota1734
sty1748
village1819
shanty1840
shack1895
flat1966
1966 Telegraph (Brisbane) 26 Dec. 11 Rosemarie Gunn, 21, of Wagaby, St. George..flats in Brisbane at New Farm.
1968 B. Cooper House of Masks iii. 28 So, you're still flatting with Maggie Nairn, eh?
1982 F. Bream Island of Fear ii. 20 My sister Zoe flats in Auckland.
2004 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 15 May 38 At the time, 28-year-old Mary was flatting with a friend called Andrew Miles.
2. intransitive. to go flatting: to leave the family home to live in a flat, esp. one shared with others.
ΚΠ
1967 H. Hunter Case for Punishment iv. 74 The very day Margaret..turned sixteen, she up and left, to go flatting.
1973 Telegraph (Brisbane) 5 June 36/2 So you've decided to leave the protected family arena and go flatting, and nothing and nobody is going to stop you.
1985 M. King Being Pakeha iii. 71 In my third year I left home, went flatting with David Shand.
2004 Evening Standard (Palmerston North, N.Z.) (Nexis) 15 May 3 Some of the students will be placed in homestays, while others will go flatting, supported by people to help with mowing the lawns and with housekeeping duties.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1c1320n.21801adj.adv.n.31296v.1c1300v.21607v.31675v.4a1522v.51966
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