adjectiveWord forms: flatter or flattest1. horizontal; level
flat ground
a flat roof
2. even or smooth, without projections or depressions
a flat surface
3. lying stretched out at full length; prostrate
he lay flat on the ground
4. having little depth or thickness; shallow
a flat dish
5. (postpositive; often foll by against) having a surface or side in complete contact with another surface
flat against the wall
6. spread out, unrolled, or levelled
7. (of a tyre) deflated, either partially or completely
8. (of shoes) having an unraised or only slightly raised heel
9. mainly Britisha. (of races, racetracks, or racecourses) not having obstacles to be jumped
b. of, relating to, or connected with flat racing as opposed to steeplechasing and hurdling
flat jockeys earn more
10. without qualification; total
a flat denial
11. without possibility of change; fixed
a flat rate
12. (prenominal or immediately postpositive) neither more nor less; exact
he did the journey in thirty minutes flat
a flat thirty minutes
13. unexciting or lacking point or interest
a flat joke
14. without variation or resonance; monotonous
a flat voice
15. (of food) stale or tasteless
16. (of beer, sparkling wines, etc) having lost effervescence, as by exposure to air
17. (of trade, business, a market, etc) commercially inactive; sluggish
18. (of a battery) fully discharged; dead
19. (of a print, photograph, or painting) lacking contrast or shading between tones
20. (of paint) without gloss or lustre; matt
21. (of a painting) lacking perspective
22. (of lighting) diffuse
23. musica. (immediately postpositive) denoting a note of a given letter name (or the sound it represents) that has beenlowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone
B flat
b. (of an instrument, voice, etc) out of tune by being too low in pitch
Compare sharp (sense 12) 24. phonetics another word for lenis
25. flat a
adverb26. in or into a prostrate, level, or flat state or position
he held his hand out flat
27. completely or utterly; absolutely
he went flat against the rules
28. exactly; precisely
in three minutes flat
29. musica. lower than a standard pitch
b. too low in pitch
she sings flat
Compare sharp (sense 18) 30. fall flat
31. flat out
noun32. a flat object, surface, or part
33. (often plural) a low-lying tract of land, esp a marsh or swamp
34. (often plural) a mud bank exposed at low tide
35. musica. an accidental that lowers the pitch of the following note by one chromatic semitone
Usual symbol: ♭ b. a note affected by this accidental
Compare sharp (sense 19) 36. theatre a rectangular wooden frame covered with painted canvas, etc, used to form part of a stage setting
38. the flat
39. nautical a flatboat or lighter
40. US and Canadian a shallow box or container, used for holding plants, growing seedlings, etc