See Also: Flat Tax(money)
flat cap(dictionary)
flat(3)(dictionary)
flat(1)(dictionary)
Flat(money)
flat(dictionary)
Flat(finance)
flat(4)(dictionary)
Flat tax(finance)
Flat Top(casino)

flat(2) (iou)



flat noun1. [flat] ME.
[from the adjective.]
A piece of level ground; a plain; the low ground through which a river flows. Freq. in pl. ME.
Shakespeare Hamlet Till of this flat a mountain you have made. A. B. Edwards The river widens away before us; the flats are green on either side.
b. A tract of low-lying marshy ground; a swamp. E17.
Shakespeare Tempest All the infections that the sun sucks up From bogs, fens, flats.
(Without pl.)
a. That which is flat, the flat part of something; spec. (a) the broad surface of a sword etc. as opp. to the edge; (b) the inside of the open hand. LME.
W. Snelgrave He gave me a slight blow..with the flat of his Cutlace. Dickens Here's old Bill Barley on the flat of his back.
b. Level country; esp. level ground without hedges or ditches for horse-racing; the season or occupation of flat-racing. M19.
J. Wilson Sic a..body..could never have been bred or born on the flat.
A nearly level tract over which the tide flows or which is covered by shallow water; a shallow, a shoal. Usu. in pl. L15.
mudflat, sandflat, etc.
G. C. Davies At low water, the muds or flats are dry.
A tract of arable land, a ploughed section of a field; esp. each of the larger portions into which the common field was divided, a square furlong. obsolete exc. dial. or Hist. E16.
a. A die loaded by being shaved on one or more surfaces. M16-E18.
b. gen. Something of a broad thin shape, as a disc, a coin, a strip of wood, a piece of metal, etc. M16.
Music. A note lowered a semitone below natural pitch; a sign () indicating this lowering. L16.
Music double flat: see DOUBLE adjective & adverb. sharps and flats loosely the black keys of a piano.
A horizontal plane; a level. Formerly also, a plane figure. L16.
J. Bentham A declivity is..preferable by far to a dead flat.
b. A flat space or flattened surface; esp. a worn patch on a tyre. L19.
c. In full optical flat. A block or lamina (usu. made of glass) with one or more surfaces made accurately plane and smooth, any unevenness etc. being small compared with the wavelength of light. L19.
a. A broad flat-bottomed receptacle; a flat-bottomed boat. M17.
b. A relatively long or broad and low article of dress, as a low-heeled shoe, US a low-crowned hat. E19.
A horizontal upper surface; esp. the horizontal part of a roof. Formerly also, a landing on a staircase, the tread of a stair. E18.
Mining. A horizontal (part of) a bed, stratum, or vein. M18.
A simpleton; someone who is (easily) taken in, a dupe. Freq. contrasted with sharp. arch. slang. M18.
Thackeray You wouldn't be such a flat as to let three thousand a year go out of the family.
Theatrical. A section of scenery mounted on a frame. L18.
join the flats fig. make a thing into a coherent whole; preserve the appearance of a consistent attitude.
Nautical.
a. In pl. Timbers in the midships of a vessel. E19.
b. The partial deck or floor of a particular compartment. M19.
(The paint used for) a surface painted with a uniform matt finish. E19.
A flat tyre; a puncture. E20.
J. M. Cain I was in the filling station, fixing flats.