fall flat
adjective
1.
horizontally level: a flat roof.
2.
level, even, or without unevenness of surface, as land or tabletops.
3.
having a surface that is without marked projections or depressions: a broad, flat face.
4.
lying horizontally and at full length, as a person; prostrate: He was flat on the canvas after the knockdown.
5.
lying wholly on or against something: The banner was flat against the wall.
6.
thrown down, laid low, or level with the ground, as fallen trees or buildings.
7.
having a generally level shape or appearance; not deep or thick: a flat plate.
8.
(of the heel of a shoe) low and broad.
9.
spread out, as an unrolled map or the open hand.
10.
deflated; collapsed: a flat tire.
11.
absolute, downright, or positive; without qualification: a flat denial.
12.
without modification or variation: a flat rate.
13.
Informal. lacking money; broke.
14.
without vitality or animation; lifeless; dull: flat writing.
15.
having lost its flavor, sharpness, or life, as wine or food; stale.
16.
(of a beverage) having lost its effervescence.
17.
without flavor; not spiced: flat cooking.
18.
prosaic, banal, or insipid: a flat style.
19.
pointless, as a remark or joke.
20.
commercially inactive: a flat day in the stock market.
21.
(of a painting) not having the illusion of volume or depth.
22.
(of a photograph or painting) lacking contrast or gradations of tone or color.
23.
(of paint) without gloss; not shiny; mat.
24.
not clear, sharp, or ringing, as sound or a voice.
25.
lacking resonance and variation in pitch; monotonous: a flat delivery of the speech.
26.
Music.
a.
(of a tone) lowered a half step in pitch: B flat.
b.
below an intended pitch, as a note; too low (opposed to sharp ).
27.
28.
Phonetics. lenis; voiced.
29.
Nautical.
a.
cut with little or no fullness.
b.
trimmed as nearly fore-and-aft as possible, for sailing to windward.
30.
flat a, the a -sound (a) of glad, bat, or act.
noun
31.
something flat.
32.
a shoe, especially a woman's shoe, with a flat heel or no heel.
33.
a flat surface, side, or part of anything: He struck me with the flat of his hand.
34.
flat or level ground; a flat area: salt flats.
35.
a marsh, shoal, or shallow.
36.
Music.
a.
(in musical notation) the character ♭, which when attached to a note or to a staff degree lowers its significance one chromatic half step.
b.
a tone one chromatic half step below another: The flat of B is B flat.
c.
(on keyboard instruments, with reference to any given note) the key next below or to the left.
37.
Theater. a piece of scenery consisting of a wooden frame, usually rectangular, covered with lightweight board or fabric.
38.
a broad, thin book, chiefly for children: a juvenile flat.
39.
Informal. a deflated automobile tire.
40.
(in postal use) a large flat package, as in a manila envelope, for mailing.
41.
Architecture. a flat roof or deck.
42.
Nautical.
a.
Also called platform. a partial deck between two full decks.
b.
a low, flat barge or lighter.
43.
Shipbuilding.
a.
a broad, flat piece of iron or steel for overlapping and joining two plates at their edges.
b.
a straight timber in a frame or other assembly of generally curved timbers.
44.
an iron or steel bar of rectangular cross section.
45.
Textiles. one of a series of laths covered with card clothing, used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.
46.
Photography. one or more negatives or positives in position to be reproduced.
47.
Printing. a device for holding a negative or positive flat for reproduction by photoengraving.
48.
Horticulture. a shallow, lidless box or tray used for rooting seeds and cuttings and for growing young plants.
49.
a similar box used for shipping and selling fruits and vegetables.
50.
Football. the area of the field immediately inside of or outside of an offensive end, close behind or at the line of scrimmage.
51.
00:10
Fall flat
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
verb (used with object)
52.
to make flat.
53.
Music. to lower (a pitch), especially one half step.
verb (used without object)
54.
to become flat.
adverb
Verb phrases 55.
in a flat position; horizontally; levelly.
56.
in a flat manner; positively; absolutely.
57.
completely; utterly: flat broke.
58.
exactly; precisely: She ran around the track in two minutes flat.
59.
Music. below the true pitch: to sing flat.
61.
Idioms flat in, Nautical. to pull the clew of (a fore-and-aft sail) as nearly amidships as possible. Also, flatten in.
62.
fall flat, to fail to produce the desired effect; fail completely: His attempts at humor fell flat.
63.
flat aft, Nautical. trimmed so that fore-and-aft sails present as flat a surface as possible, as in sailing close to the wind.
64.
65.
flat out, Informal.
a.
without hesitation; directly or openly: He told us flat out he'd been a double agent.
b.
at full speed or with maximum effort.
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English < Old Norse flatr, akin to Old English flet (see flat2), Greek platýs (see platy-, plate1
1275–1325; Middle English < Old Norse flatr, akin to Old English flet (see flat2), Greek platýs (see platy-, plate1
Related forms
flat·ly, adverb
flat·ness, noun
un·flat·ted, adjective
Synonyms
1. plane. See level. 4. low, prone. 11. outright, peremptory, categorical. 14. boring, spiritless, prosaic. 17. vapid, unsavory.
1. plane. See level. 4. low, prone. 11. outright, peremptory, categorical. 14. boring, spiritless, prosaic. 17. vapid, unsavory.
Antonyms
1, 4. upright, vertical. 14. spirited. 17. savory.
1, 4. upright, vertical. 14. spirited. 17. savory.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To fall flat
Collins
World English Dictionary
flat1 (flæt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj (often foll by against) , flatter, flattest | |
| 1. | 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. | 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. | chiefly (Brit) |
| a. (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. | music |
| a. (immediately postpositive) denoting a note of a given letter name (or the sound it represents) that has been lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone: B flat | |
| b. Compare sharp (of an instrument, voice, etc) out of tune by being too low in pitch | |
| 24. | phonetics another word for lenis |
| 25. | phonetics flat a the vowel sound of a as in the usual US or S Brit pronunciation of hand, cat, usually represented by the symbol (æ) |
| —adv | |
| 26. | 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. | music |
| a. lower than a standard pitch | |
| b. Compare sharp too low in pitch: she sings flat | |
| 30. | fall flat to fail to achieve a desired effect, etc |
| 31. | informal flat out |
| a. with the maximum speed or effort | |
| b. totally exhausted | |
| —n | |
| 32. | 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. | music |
| a. Usual symbol: ♭ an accidental that lowers the pitch of the following note by one chromatic semitone | |
| b. Compare sharp a note affected by this accidental | |
| 36. | theatre a rectangular wooden frame covered with painted canvas, etc, used to form part of a stage setting |
| 37. | a punctured car tyre |
| 38. | chiefly (Brit) the flat (often cap.) |
| a. flat racing, esp as opposed to steeplechasing and hurdling | |
| b. the season of flat racing | |
| 39. | nautical a flatboat or lighter |
| 40. | (US), (Canadian) a shallow box or container, used for holding plants, growing seedlings, etc |
| —vb , flatter, flattest, flats, flatting, flatted | |
| 41. | to make or become flat |
| 42. | music the usual US word for flatten |
| [C14: from Old Norse flatr; related to Old High German flaz flat, Greek platus flat, broad] | |
| 'flatly1 | |
| —adv | |
| 'flatness1 | |
| —n | |
| flat2 (flæt) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | Usual US and Canadian name: apartment a set of rooms comprising a residence entirely on one floor of a building |
| 2. | (Brit), (NZ) a portion of a house used as separate living quarters |
| 3. | (NZ) a house shared with people who are not members of one's own family |
| —vb , flats, flatting, flatted | |
| 4. | (Austral), (NZ) to live in a flat (with someone) |
| [Old English flett floor, hall, house; related to | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
flat
early 14c., from O.N. flatr, from P.Gmc. *flataz (cf. O.H.G. flaz "flat, level," O.E. flet, O.H.G. flezzi "floor"), perhaps from PIE *pla- (cf. Gk. platys "broad, flat;" see place (n.)). Sense of "prosaic, dull" is from 1570s; used of drink from c.1600; of musical notes from
1590s, because the tone is "lowered." Flat-footed "unprepared" is 1912 U.S. baseball slang, on notion of "not on one's toes; earlier it meant "straightforwardly" (1828), from notion of "standing firmly." Flat-out (adv.) "openly, directly" is from 1932; earlier it was a noun meaning "total failure" (1870, U.S. colloquial). Flatware is distinguished from hollow ware.
flat
1801, from Scot. flat "floor or story of a house," from O.E. flet "a dwelling, floor, ground," from the same source as flat (adj.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
flat
adj.1. [common] Lacking any complex internal structure. "That bitty box has only a flat filesystem, not a hierarchical one." The verb form is flatten.
2. Said of a memory architecture (like that of the VAX or 680x0) that is one big linear address space (typically with each possible value of a processor register corresponding to a unique core address), as opposed to a `segmented' architecture (like that of the 80x86) in which addresses are composed from a base-register/offset pair (segmented designs are generally considered cretinous).
Note that sense 1 (at least with respect to filesystems) is usually used pejoratively, while sense 2 is a Good Thing.
Jargon
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
fall flat
Fail, prove to be ineffective, as in His jokes nearly always fell flat
no one ever laughed at them. [First half of 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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