from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Flat \Flat\ (fl[a^]t), a. [Compar. {Flatter} (fl[a^]t"r[~e]r);
superl. {Flattest} (fl[a^]t"t[e^]st).] [Akin to Icel. flatr,
Sw. flat, Dan. flad, OHG. flaz, and AS. flet floor, G.
fl["o]tz stratum, layer.]
1. Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so,
without prominences or depressions; level without
inclination; plane.
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Though sun and moon
Were in the flat sea sunk. --Milton.
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2. Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground;
level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat
on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed.
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What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! --Milton.
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I feel . . . my hopes all flat. --Milton.
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3. (Fine Arts) Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without
points of prominence and striking interest.
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A large part of the work is, to me, very flat.
--Coleridge.
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4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink
flat to the taste.
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5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit;
monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.
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How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world. --Shak.
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6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings;
depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.
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7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive;
downright.
Syn: flat-out.
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Flat burglary as ever was committed. --Shak.
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A great tobacco taker too, -- that's flat.
--Marston.
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8. (Mus.)
(a) Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals,
minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A
flat.
(b) Not sharp or shrill; not acute; as, a flat sound.
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9. (Phonetics) Sonant; vocal; -- applied to any one of the
sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a
nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.
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10. (Golf) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft;
-- said of a club.
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11. (Gram.) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, as a
noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb,
without the addition of a formative suffix, or an
infinitive without the sign to. Many flat adverbs, as in
run fast, buy cheap, are from AS. adverbs in -["e], the
loss of this ending having made them like the adjectives.
Some having forms in ly, such as exceeding, wonderful,
true, are now archaic.
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12. (Hort.) Flattening at the ends; -- said of certain
fruits.
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{Flat arch}. (Arch.) See under {Arch}, n., 2. (b).
{Flat cap}, cap paper, not folded. See under {Paper}.
{Flat chasing}, in fine art metal working, a mode of
ornamenting silverware, etc., producing figures by dots
and lines made with a punching tool. --Knight.
{Flat chisel}, a sculptor's chisel for smoothing.
{Flat file}, a file wider than its thickness, and of
rectangular section. See {File}.
{Flat nail}, a small, sharp-pointed, wrought nail, with a
flat, thin head, larger than a tack. --Knight.
{Flat paper}, paper which has not been folded.
{Flat rail}, a railroad rail consisting of a simple flat bar
spiked to a longitudinal sleeper.
{Flat rods} (Mining), horizontal or inclined connecting rods,
for transmitting motion to pump rods at a distance.
--Raymond.
{Flat rope}, a rope made by plaiting instead of twisting;
gasket; sennit.
Note: Some flat hoisting ropes, as for mining shafts, are
made by sewing together a number of ropes, making a
wide, flat band. --Knight.
{Flat space}. (Geom.) See {Euclidian space}.
{Flat stitch}, the process of wood engraving. [Obs.] -- {Flat
tint} (Painting), a coat of water color of one uniform shade.
{To fall flat} (Fig.), to produce no effect; to fail in the
intended effect; as, his speech fell flat.
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Of all who fell by saber or by shot,
Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott. --Lord
Erskine.
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