flat(1) (iou) and combretaceous (iou)

flat(1) (iou)

flat adjective & adverb. [flat] Compar. & superl. -tt-. ME.
[Old Norse flatr = Old High German fla from Germanic: ult. relationship uncertain.]
A. adjective.
I.
Horizontally level; without inclination. ME.
J. Gwilt In India..all buildings of any importance have flat roofs.
Spread out, stretched, lying at full length. ME.
E. K. Kane The hunter is flat and motionless. R. Kipling A big wind blew..the tents flat.
b. Of a building etc.: levelled with the ground; overthrown, razed. M16.
Shakespeare Coriolanus To lay the city flat, To bring the roof to the foundation.
c. Lying in close apposition; with the whole length and breadth evenly in contact with a surface. M16.
H. J. Stonor The ladder was standing flat against the wall.
Even, smooth, unbroken, without projection; (of the face, features, etc.) without prominence, not projecting; (of land) not undulating; (of a surface) smooth, level. ME.
I. Murdoch Flat cornlands where..miles away against the sky one could perhaps see a silo. M. Spark Miss Brodie's chest was flat, no bulges at all.
b. Deflated, punctured. E20.
E. Bowen My tyre..went really flat.
c. Electronics. Uniform in behaviour over a given range of frequencies; responding equally to signals of all frequencies. E20.
Having a broad level surface and little depth; esp. (of a foot) touching the ground with most or all of the lower surface in walking or standing, having little or no arch. LME.
(as) flat as a pancake: see PANCAKE noun 1.
W. Dampier The Booby is a Water-fowl..her Feet are flat like a Ducks Feet. D. Lardner This ruler consists of a flat piece of wood with a straight edge.
b. Of a vessel: wide and shallow. L15.
(Of a tint etc.) of uniform depth and shade; Photography lacking contrast; (of paint etc.) not glossy. M18.
W. M. Craig Throwing every mass of shadow into a flat tint. P. Carey She uses a flat plastic paint.
II.
Unrelieved by condition or qualification; absolute, downright, unqualified, plain. M16.
leave flat go away from (a person) without warning, drop suddenly and completely. that's flat let there be no doubt about it.
T. Jefferson In flat contradiction to their Arret of December last. T. Keightley He claimed to be put in possession..but met with a flat refusal. G. Saintsbury Such hints at rebellion..were..regarded as flat heresy.
b. Impecunious, penniless, broke. Cf. flat broke. US slang. M19.
Completely lacking in attraction or interest; dull, lifeless; monotonous, insipid. L16.
fall flat prove a failure, fail to win applause, response, etc.
M. Pattison A rather flat treatment of trite themes. E. Gaskell It seems so flat to be left behind.
Deficient in sense or mental vigour; stupid, dull, slow-witted. arch. L16.
J. R. Seeley I look for nothing from empty, slow, flat people.
a. Music. Relatively low in pitch; esp. (of a note or singer) below true pitch; (of a key) having a flat or flats in the signature. L16.
B flat, E flat, etc., a semitone lower than B, E, etc.
b. Of a sound, voice, etc.: not clear and sharp, dead, dull. E17.
F. Weldon Annie had a flat, nasal telephone voice.
a. Of an accent, syllable, etc.: unstressed. L16-E17.
b. Grammar. Of a word, esp. an adverb: not distinguished by an ending characteristic of its part of speech. Now rare. L19.
c. Phonetics. Of a sound: characterized by the downward shift of higher frequencies. M20.
Lacking energy or spirits, lifeless, dejected; depressed. E17.
C. Lamb I am now calm, but sadly taken down and flat.
b. Of trade etc.: depressed, inactive, sluggish. M19.
c. Of an electric battery: run down, discharged. M20.
Of drink etc.: lacking in flavour, stale; esp. having lost effervescence. E17.
a. Of a loan etc.: without interest. US. M19.
b. Commerce. Unvarying, fixed, uniform; not varying with changed conditions or in particular cases. L19.
Special collocations & comb.: flat arch an arch with a flat intrados. flatbed noun & adjective (denoting) something with a flat working surface, esp. (a) a truck with a flat load-carrying area; (b) a scanner, plotter, etc. which keeps paper flat during use. flat boat (a) a broad flat-bottomed boat; (b) US a large roughly made boat formerly used for floating goods etc. down western rivers. flat bottom (a) = flat-boat above. flat-bottom, flat-bottomed adjectives (esp. of a boat) having a flat bottom. flatbread flat, thin, typically unleavened bread. flat-cap (the wearer of) a cap with a low crown, esp. (now Hist.) a round cap worn in the 16th and 17th cents. by citizens of London. flatcar N. Amer. a railway wagon without raised sides or ends. flatfish any of numerous flat-bodied, bottom-dwelling bony fishes forming the order Heterosomata and including sole, plaice, turbot, etc. flat foot (a) a foot with an arch that is lower than usual; (b) (flatfoot) slang a police officer. flat-footed adjective (a) having flat feet; (b) colloq. downright, resolute; unready, unprepared; clumsy, uninspired. flat-four adjective (of an engine) having four cylinders all horizontal, two on each side of the crankshaft. flat-headed adjective (a) having or appearing to have a flat head; (b) flat-headed borer (US), the wood-boring larva of any of various beetles of the family Buprestidae. flat-iron (a) a domestic iron for pressing linen etc., heated by external means and usu. triangular in shape; (b) colloq. a boat, building, etc., like a flat iron in shape. flatland (a) a hypothetical land in space of two dimensions; (b) (orig. US) a region of flat land. flat-leaf parsley, flat-leaved parsley parsley of a variety with large, flat leaves, popular in southern Europe. flatline verb (colloq.) [with ref to the continuous straight line displayed on a heart monitor, indicating death] die. flat-nose a flat-nosed person or animal. flat-nosed adjective having a flat nose. flat-pack (a) a piece of furniture or Other equipment that is sold in pieces packed flat in a box for easy transport and is assembled by the buyer; (b) Electronics a package for an integrated circuit consisting of a rectangular sealed unit with a number of horizontal metal pins protruding from its sides. flat parsley = flat-leaf parsley above. flat-pea Austral. a leguminous shrub of the genus Platylobium, with flat pods. flat race: run over level ground, as opp. to a hurdle race or a steeplechase. flat racing the racing of horses in flat races. flat rate a rate of payment etc. that is the same in all cases, not proportional or otherwise variable. flat spin (a) Aeronautics a nearly horizontal spin; (b) colloq. a state of agitation, panic. flat-tail mullet an Australian mullet, Liza argentea. flat-top slang (a) an aircraft carrier; (b) a man's short flat haircut. flat tyre (a) a deflated or punctured tyre; (b) N. Amer. colloq. a dull and spiritless person. flatware (a) crockery such as plates, saucers, etc. (opp. hollow ware); (b) N. Amer. cutlery. flatwoods US low-lying wooded country, esp. in Ohio, Alabama and Florida.
b. adverb.
Directly, exactly; due (east etc.). M16-M17.
Downright, absolutely, positively, plainly; completely, quite. L16.
flat out at top speed, using all one's strength and resources.
C. Jenner Sir Harry contradicted him flat. W. S. Maugham You haven't turned it down flat?
b. Exactly, precisely. Orig. US. E20.
John Clarke It took her about two minutes flat to step into jeans and sweater.
Music. In a flat manner; a semitone below natural pitch. L17.
Oxford English Dictionary She has a tendency to sing flat.
flattish adjective E17.

combretaceous (iou)

combretaceous adjective. M19.
[from mod. Latin Combretaceae, from genus name Combretum: see COMBRETUM, -ACEOUS.]
Of or pertaining to the Combretaceae, a family of tropical trees and shrubs allied to the myrtles.

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