| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈflatten, a. Obs. rare.
[? var. of flotten.]
1. Of milk: ? Skimmed (in quot. app. stale, sour; perh. associated with flat a.).
1593Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 13 Soke..in broken beere, or flatten milk.
2. fig. = fleeten 2.
a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant iii. v, What a flatten face he has now..How like an ass he looks!
▪ II. flatten, v.|ˈflæt(ə)n|
[f. flat a. + -en5.]
†1. trans. To lay flat on the ground. Obs. rare.
1712J. Mortimer Husb. ii. xii, If they [sheep] should lie in it [flax], and beat it down, or flatten it, it will rise again the next rain.
2. a. Naut. to flatten in (a sail): to extend it more nearly fore-and-aft of the vessel. Also absol. (Cf. flat v.2 2.)
1839Marryat Phant. Ship x, Hard a-port! flatten in forward! 1856R. H. Dana Seamen's Friend 51 Flatten in your jibsheets. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To flatten in, the action of hauling in the aftmost clue of a sail to give it greater power of turning the vessel..hence flatten in forward..to haul in the jib and foretopmast-staysail-sheets towards the middle of the ship, and haul forward the fore-bowline.
b. intr. Aeronautics. to flatten out: to bring an aeroplane into a position parallel with the ground. Also, of the aeroplane: to assume such a position.
1913Aeroplane 17 Apr. 453/1 Apparently he tried to flatten out too quickly. 1914H. Rosher In R.N.A.S. (1916) 37, I just managed to flatten out and straighten up a little as I hit the ground sideways. 1917C. C. Turner Aircraft of To-Day vii. 116 When the sea is calm the pilot often finds it anything but easy to see when to flatten out to ‘land’. 1950[see approach v. 13].
3. = flat v.2 3, a and b.
a.1630Donne Progr. Soule xiv. Poems (1654) 298 As if for that time their round bodies flatned were. 1726Monro Anat. ii. 201 The two superior of these four [superior Dorsal vertebræ]..are flatned..by the Action of the Musculi longi colli. 1755Johnson, Flatten, to make even or level, without prominence or elevation. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. I. iv. 98 The superior honours paid to Michael Angelo, whose nose was flattened by the blow. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. iii. Wks. 1825 III. 20 Its muscular conformation..is throughout calculated for flattening the eye. 1883Hardwick's Photogr. Chem. (ed. Taylor) 214 A longer exposure in the Camera..invariably flattens the picture, destroying its rotundity and stereoscopic effect.
b.1751Chambers Cycl. s.v. Coining, The bars or plates..are passed several times through a mill, to flatten them further. 1794Sullivan View Nat. I. 353 Beautiful crystallizations regularly flattened. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Europe ii. §1. 78 We were frequently flattened out against the rocks, like beasts of ill repute nailed to a barn.
fig.1884St. L. Herbert in Fortn. Rev. Feb. 242 Reason..snubbed and flattened out the emotion. 1889Barrère & Leland Slang, To flatten out (American) ‘I flattened him out’ i.e., I had the best of him, of the argument.
4. a. intr. for refl. To become flat, or more flat; to lose convexity or protuberance; to grow broad at the expense of thickness. Also fig. and with down or out.
a1721J. Keill Maupertuis' Diss. (1734) 51 The Spheroid that continually flattens. 1734Watts Reliq. Juv. (1789) 85 Our real form grows cold and pale..it flattens, it withers into wrinkles. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 97 On approaching the coast, the surface of the country flattens, and approaches water-level. 1828Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 149 The horn..flattens and turns inwards. 1884H. James Little Tour in France 109 (Cent. Dict.) As I proceeded it [the country] flattened out a good deal. 1885L. Wingfield Barbara Philpot III. v. 132 A glittering doll in a shop⁓window causeth the noses of the bystanders to flatten. 1893Westm. Gaz. 18 Mar. 8/1 The dip of the reef ‘flattens’. 1924History Oct. 209 The general average flattened down to a moderate thirteen shillings. 1971Guardian 11 June 19/3 Furniture and silver prices have flattened out lately.
b. Of the wind or a storm: To decrease in force. Cf. flat v.2 2 c.
1748Anson Voy. i. viii. 79 The storm at length flattening to a calm. 1805Naval Chron. XIII. 239 The Wind flattening..she missed stays.
5. a. trans. To make ‘flat’, vapid, or insipid. Also fig.
1631Sanderson Serm. II. 2 As if all use of rhethorical ornaments..did adulterate, corrupt, and flatten the sincere milk of the word. 1686Goad Celest. Bodies ii. v. 221 The Celestial Bodies..do ferment or flatten the Air. 1755Johnson, Flatten, to make vapid.
b. intr. to become insipid.
1692R. L'Estrange Fables clxi. 132 Satisfactions that..flatten in the very tasting. 1702Eng. Theophrast. 254 Without some tincture of Urbanity, good Humour flattens for want of Refreshment and Relief.
6. trans. To make dull, deprive of attraction, interest, or impressiveness; also to flatten down.
1693W. Freke Sel. Ess. xxxiv. 210 When you gallop over a good Author, you..flatten him, and lose half his Life and Substance. 1710Steele Tatler No. 204 ⁋5 It flattens the Narration, to say his Excellency in a Case which is common to all Men. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 162 The odiousness of the crime grew at last to be so much flatten'd by the frequent executions. 1820Lamb Lett. (1888) II. 57 That I did not write..was simply that he was to come so soon, and that flattens letters. 1889Spectator 14 Dec. 840 When the pilgrims..break out into verse, they..flatten down what had been far more effectively and imaginatively said in prose.
†7.
a. To deprive of energy or ‘fire’; to depress. Also with away. Obs.
1683R. Grove Persuas. Communion 22 Our Passions..may be Charmed, or Raised, or Flattened. 1709Steele Tatler No. 47 ⁋3 He was sunk and flattened to the lowest Degree. 1772J. Adams Diary 23 Nov. Wks. 1850 II. 305, I find they are both cooled, both flattened away. 1796Burke Corr. IV. 362 So far from endeavouring to excite this spirit, nothing has been omitted to flatten and lower it.
b. To cause (a market) to become depressed.
1891Daily News 12 Nov. 2/1 These two influences sufficed to flatten all the markets.
8. To lower (a musical note) in pitch; also absol.
1824Mirror III. 105/2 Flattening and sharpening and rosining bows. 1825Danneley Dict. Mus., To flatten, to lower a note one or two half tones. 1872Banister Music 55 That same note sharpened or flattened.
9. To paint (a surface) so that it shall have no gloss; to deprive (paint) of its lustre. Also absol.
1823Crabb Techn. Dict., To flatten, is to give a newly painted wall such a coat of colour as takes off its glossy appearance. 1874W. Crookes Dyeing & Calico Print. vii. 517 The colouring matter may also be flattened or deprived of its lustre.
10. Tanning: see quot.
1875Ure's Dict. Arts III. 95 In some cases, as in the calf⁓skin, it is skived and then shaved, or, as it is called, flattened at right angles to the skiving.
Restrict † Obs. rare to sense 1 a and add: [1.] b. [Cf. sense 3.] colloq. To knock (a person) down with a heavy blow, to ‘floor’; in extended use, to defeat utterly, best, rout. Also with out.
1892Truth (Sydney) 1 May 2/3 [He] would assuredly ‘flatten out’, smother, or stab any ‘kinchin’ who either complained or told stories. 1893Farmer & Henley Slang III. 17/1 Flatten out,..(American), to get the better of (in argument or fight). 1920H. C. Witwer Kid Scanlan v. 209 The chair I throwed at him was wasted, because Scanlan stepped aside and flattened the assassin with a left hook to the jaw. 1930Daily Express 6 Oct. 11/5 Stanley was knocked out in the third round, but before he was finally flattened he put up as game a display as any I have ever seen. 1957J. Kerouac On Road i. iv. 29 Mean, tough fellow, too; I seen him flatten a policeman in the yards at Cheyenne, one punch. 1977Washington Post 28 Feb. c22/2 Committee members from the Washington area voted for it, but the trucking lobby flattened them as usual. 1986Times 12 May 32/8 The transparent but ignored penalty when Nicol flattened Sharp.
c. To overwhelm (someone) with a crushing argument or remark; to put down, humiliate. Cf. to flatten out, sense 3 c below. colloq.
1932A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 50 He was inclined to be cheeky, but I soon flattened him. 1961J. Mitchell Imaginary Toys xv. 177 ‘Charles,’ said Giles, ‘what do you really care about?’ That flattened me, rather. ‘I don't know,’ I said. |