flat
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- even, horizontal, level, levelled, low, smooth
- dull, boring, dead, lacklustre, lifeless, monotonous, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting
- absolute, categorical, downright, explicit, out-and-out, positive, unequivocal, unqualified
- punctured, blown out, burst, collapsed, deflated, empty
[adverb]
Synonyms:
- completely, absolutely, categorically, exactly, point blank, precisely, utterly
- flat out: at full speed, all out, at full tilt, for all one is worth, hell for leather (informal)
————————
[noun]
apartment, rooms

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Contrasted words: rugged, scabrous, uneven, hilly, mountainous
Related Idioms: flat as a billiard table (or pancake)
Related Words: dull, lifeless, flavorless, stale, tasteless

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English Thesaurus: amount, quantity, volume, level, proportion, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. flat¹ S2 W2 /flæt/ adjective (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)
[Word Family: noun: flat, flatness; adverb: flat, flatly; verb: flatten; adjective: flat]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old Norse; Origin: flatr]

1. SURFACE smooth and level, without raised or hollow areas, and not sloping or curving:
houses with flat roofs
a perfectly flat sandy beach
The countryside near there is flat as a pancake (=very flat).
Work on a clean, flat surface.

2. MONEY a flat rate, amount of money etc is fixed and does not change or have anything added to it:
Clients are charged a flat rate of £250 annually.
We charge a flat fee for car hire.

3. TYRE/BALL a flat tyre or ball has no air or not enough air in it

4. NOT DEEP not very deep, thick, or high, especially in comparison to its width or length:
The cake came out of the oven flat, not fluffy.

5. DRINK a drink that is flat does not taste fresh because it has no more bubbles of gas in it Antonym : fizzy

6. NOT INTERESTING [not before noun] a performance, book etc that is flat lacks interest, excitement, or energy:
Arsenal looked flat for large parts of the game.

7. BATTERY British English a flat battery has lost its electrical power Synonym : dead American English:
Have you checked that the batteries haven’t gone flat (=become flat)?

8. BUSINESS/TRADE if prices, economic conditions, trade etc are flat, they have not increased or improved over a period of time:
Analysts are expecting flat sales in the coming months.

9. E flat/B flat/A flat etc a musical note that is one semitone lower than the note E, B, A etc ⇒ sharp, natural

10. MUSICAL SOUND if a musical note is flat, it is played or sung slightly lower than it should be Antonym : sharp

11. VOICE not showing much emotion, or not changing much in sound as you speak:
‘He’s dead,’ she said in a flat voice.

12. a flat refusal/denial etc a refusal etc that is definite and which someone will not change:
Our requests were met with a flat refusal.

13. be flat on your back
a) to be lying down so that all of your back is touching the floor
b) to be very ill so that you have to stay in bed for a period of time:
I’ve been flat on my back with the flu all week.

14. SHOES flat shoes have very low heels

15. LIGHT having little variety of light and dark:
Flat lighting is typical of Avedon’s portraits.

16. and that’s flat! British English spoken old-fashioned used to say that you will definitely not change what you have just said Synonym : and that’s that:
I won’t go, and that’s flat!
—flatness noun [uncountable]
⇒ in/into a flat spin at spin²(6), ⇒ flat feet

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. flat² S2 W3 noun [countable]
[Word Family: noun: flat, flatness; adverb: flat, flatly; verb: flatten; adjective: flat]
[Sense 1: Date: 1800-1900; Language: Scottish English; Origin: flet 'inside of a house' (14-19 centuries) (influenced by ⇒ flat¹)]
[Sense 2-7: Date: 1200-1300; Origin: ⇒ flat¹]

1. PLACE TO LIVE especially British English a place for people to live that consists of a set of rooms that are part of a larger building Synonym : apartment:
They have a flat in Crouch End.
a two-bedroom flat
The building was knocked down to make way for a block of flats (=a large building with many flats in it). ⇒ granny flat

2. TYRE especially American English a tyre that does not have enough air inside Synonym : flat tyre:
Damn, the car has a flat.
He stopped to change a flat.

3. MUSIC
a) a musical note that is one semitone lower than a particular note
b) the sign (Ƅ) in written music that shows that a note is one semitone lower than a particular note ⇒ sharp, natural

4. LAND flats [plural] an area of land that is at a low level, especially near water:
mud flats

5. SHOES flats [plural] American English a pair of women’s shoes with very low heels

6. the flat of sb’s hand/a knife/a sword etc the flat part or flat side of something

7. on the flat British English on ground that is level and does not slope

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

III. flat³ adverb
[Word Family: noun: flat, flatness; adverb: flat, flatly; verb: flatten; adjective: flat]

1. FLAT POSITION in a position in which the surface of something is against another surface without curving or sloping:
The bed can be folded flat for storage.
He lay flat on the floor.
That night I lay flat on my back and stared up at the ceiling.

2. three minutes/ten seconds etc flat informal in exactly three minutes, ten seconds etc – used to emphasize that something happens or is done very quickly:
I was dressed in five minutes flat.

3. fall flat informal if a joke, story etc falls flat, it does not achieve the effect that is intended:
Unfortunately, what could have been a powerful drama fell flat.

4. MUSIC if you sing or play music flat, you sing or play slightly lower than the correct note so that the sound is unpleasant Antonym : sharp

5. fall flat on your/something's face
a) to fall so that you are lying on your chest on the ground:
Babe slipped and fell flat on her face.
b) informal to not have the result you want or expect, especially when this is embarrassing:
The theory falls flat on its face when put into practice.

6. flat out informal
a) as fast as possible:
Everyone’s working flat out to finish on time.
b) American English in a direct and complete way Synonym : straight out
ask/tell somebody flat out
She asked him flat out if he was seeing another woman.

7. tell somebody flat British English spoken to tell someone something directly and definitely Synonym : straight out:
I told him flat that I didn’t want to see him again.
⇒ flat broke at broke²(1)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

flat
adj.
VERBS be, look | become | lie, stay I can't get this material to lie flat. She lay flat on the ground.
fold sth, get sth, make sth, press sth Shall I fold the paper flat or roll it up?
ADV. very | absolutely, completely, quite The sea was almost completely flat.
almost | fairly, quite, rather

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

flat
noun
I. set of rooms
ADJ. big, spacious | modest | cramped, little, poky, small, tiny | comfortable, cosy | beautiful, nice | luxury, posh | shabby | modern | self-contained | purpose-built | furnished, unfurnished | one-room, studio | one-bedroomed, two-room, etc. | bachelor, granny Even the prices of small bachelor flats are unbelievable. They converted two rooms of their house into a granny flat for Tony's elderly mother.
attic, basement, bottom, downstairs, first-floor, ground-floor, penthouse, top, top-floor, upstairs the people who lived in the downstairs flat
high-rise a block of high-rise flats | empty, unoccupied, vacant | privately-owned | rented | council | holiday | next They live in the next flat.
QUANT. block The tall blocks of flats dominated the skyline.
VERB + FLAT have, own They have a flat in Paris and a house in Normandy.
rent, take The musician took a flat in a fashionable area of London.
let, sublet The landlady found they had been illegally subletting the flat.
buy | sell | find (sb), look for Do you think that the council could find me another flat?
get (sb) We got her a flat in the same block as ours.
live in, occupy, stay in Our flat is one of the two occupied in the block.
share | move into, move (out) from, move out (of) | build | decorate, refurbish a contract to refurbish 18 council flats
lock (up) | let sb/yourself into She let herself into the flat with the spare key.
leave, let sb/yourself out (of) | break (into) | evict sb from
FLAT + VERB be located The flat is located in a modern development. | face sth, overlook sth a luxury block of flats overlooking the marina
PREP. at a/the ~ I'll meet you back at your flat.
in a/the ~ She lives in the top flat.
PHRASES convert/divide/make/turn sth into flats The house has now been converted into flats.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

flat
II. land
ADJ. coastal | tidal | mud (also mudflat), sand, salt mud and sand flats rich in animal life
PREP. on the ~ These birds live on the coastal flats.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

flat
III. musical note
ADJ. A, B, etc.
VERB + FLAT have The key of E flat major has three flats.
play
PREP. in … ~ Mendelssohn's Quintet in B flat

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

flat
noun
See APARTMENT

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

amount how much of something there is:
Try to reduce the amount of fat in your diet.
a tiny amount of poison
quantity a particular amount of food, liquid, or another substance that can be measured – used especially in written descriptions and instructions:
Make sure that you add the right quantity of milk.
They buy the wood in large quantities.
volume the amount of something such as business activity or traffic, especially when this is large or increasing:
The volume of traffic on our roads has risen sharply.
the huge volume of trade with China
level the exact amount of something at one time, which can go up or down at other times:
They measured the level of alcohol in his blood.
There is a high level of unemployment.
proportion the amount of something, compared with the whole amount that exists:
the proportion of road accidents caused by drunk drivers
A high proportion of the students were from poor families.
quota a maximum amount of something that can be produced, sold, brought into a country etc:
import quotas on Japanese cars
yield /jiːld/ the amount of something that is produced, especially crops:
this year’s cotton yield
flat on one level, without any holes or raised areas, and not sloping or curving:
a flat roof
a flat screen
Before you lay the tiles, make sure that the ground is completely flat.
smooth without any holes or raised areas – used especially when saying how something feels when you touch it:
her lovely smooth skin
I ran my hand across the animal’s smooth fur.
even without any holes or raised areas:
Apply the paint to an even surface.
Be careful – the path is not very even here.
horizontal going straight across and not sloping:
a horizontal line
Raise both arms to a horizontal position.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

flat on one level, without any holes or raised areas, and not sloping or curving:
a flat roof
a flat screen
Before you lay the tiles, make sure that the ground is completely flat.
level not sloping in any direction, so that every part is at the same height:
Is the top of this picture level?
After four hours coming down the mountain, I was glad to be back on level ground.
smooth without any holes or raised areas – used especially when saying how something feels when you touch it:
her lovely smooth skin
I ran my hand across the animal’s smooth fur.
even without any holes or raised areas:
Apply the paint to an even surface.
Be careful – the path is not very even here.
horizontal going straight across and not sloping:
a horizontal line
Raise both arms to a horizontal position.
small
The flat was too small for the three of them.
big/spacious
It was a big flat with eight or nine rooms.
cramped/poky (=too small and not comfortable)
She spends most days shut up in a poky flat looking after her disabled Mum.
a one-bedroom/two-bedroom etc flat
She lived in a one-bedroom flat in Clapham.
a one-room/two-room etc flat
Their home is a humble two-room flat.
a ground-floor/first-floor/second-floor etc flat
We’re moving into a first-floor flat.
a basement flat (=a flat that is below ground level)
They lived in a basement flat in South London.
a studio flat (=with one main room)
I might just be able to afford a tiny studio flat.
high-rise flats (=flats in a very tall building)
Many high-rise flats were built in the 1970s.
a rented flat
He returned to his rented flat in Cheltenham.
a luxury flat
Laura shares a luxury flat with her sister Chloe.
a self-contained flat (=a flat with its own kitchen and bathroom)
We rented a self-contained flat in the city centre.
a furnished/unfurnished flat (=a rented flat that does or does not have furniture)
She found a job and a furnished flat.
a holiday flat
The building has been converted into three holiday flats.
a block of flats (=a large building divided into separate flats)
At the time, I lived in a block of flats in St John’s Wood.
live in a flat
Terry lived in a flat on the second floor.
buy a flat
I had planned to buy a flat with Geraldine.
rent a flat
Renting a flat can be very expensive in this part of town.
move into a flat
They move into their new flat next week.
own a flat
The couple own their own flat in Peebles.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

flat
̈ɪflæt
See: fall flat , in no time or in nothing flat , leave flat

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲