flat
part of speech
adjective (flat, flatter, flattest); noun (a flat, flats); adverb (flat)
meaning for a pupil
1) Flat means smooth and level, with no bumps or hills. tree →
2) A flat shape has length and width but no thickness, like a drawing of a square. tree →
3) A flat (British) is a home on one floor of a bigger building; Americans say apartment. tree →
4) A flat tyre has lost its air. tree →
5) A flat drink has lost its bubbles. tree →
6) In music, a flat note is a bit lower. tree →
7) Flat can mean exactly: in ten seconds flat. tree →
sense in the lessons
maths: flat shapes (2D) with area and perimeter, not volume; a flat of fruit is a tray with a set number of boxes; geography: flat land, plains; science: the Earth is not flat; everyday life: a flat tyre on a bike, a flat in a city
examples
- A square is a flat shape. tree →
- The table top is flat. tree →
- They live in a flat on the 3rd floor. tree →
- A flat of strawberries holds 12 boxes. tree →
- My bike has a flat tyre. tree →
- The land near the coast is flat. tree →
- The lemonade went flat. tree →
- Lie flat on the mat. tree →
- He ran the race in ten seconds flat. tree →
- Lengthwise, flat on his back, he lay. tree →
note
Flat shapes have area, not volume. Trap: «a flat» of fruit is a tray with a set number of boxes. People long ago did not all think the Earth was flat; that is a myth.
In the corpora
- Vivid example: in Melbourne, cousin Jess moves into her first rented flat with a bag of old plates from Gran.
- Judging a whole group, like «the kids from the flats», from one picture is how prejudice starts.
- Scene: in a flat in Bristol, Dad has £100 for the week.
- Recorder players cover the holes with the soft, flat pads of their fingers, because hard fingertips leave gaps that make squeaks.
- Big flat brushes suit skies and backgrounds; small round brushes with a pointed tip suit details.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «flat» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.