FLAT

flat. Flat, n. a level, even ground, shallow, dulness, a broad boat, a mark of depression in music

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Flat (?), a. [Compar. Flatter (?); superl. Flattest (?).] [[Akin to Icel. flatr, Sw. flat, Dan. flad, OHG. flaz, and AS. flet floor, G. flötz stratum, layer.]] 1. 1. Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane.
Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. Milton. 2. 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.
What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! Milton. I feel . . . my hopes all flat. Milton. 3. 3. (Fine Arts) Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest.
A large part of the work is, to me, very flat. Coleridge. 4. 4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.
5. 5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Shak. 6. 6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.
7. 7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.
Flat burglary as ever was committed. Shak. A great tobacco taker too, — that's flat. Marston. 8. 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.
9. 9. (Phonetics) Sonant; vocal; — applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.
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. 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. — 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. Of all who fell by saber or by shot, Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott. Lord Erskine.