flat out meaning: definition, quotations

flat out

adj

/ˌflæt ˈaʊt/

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see flat, out.

So many of them took pictures, of themselves and of me, that we ran flat out of black-and-white film the second day out, and there wasn′t a Queen Mary necktie to be had in the shops after we left the port.1967 October 6, Dora Jane Hamblin, “Out to Sea and into History”, in LIFE, page 29:

Complete, total, downright.

Avoid Flat-Out Opposites The slob vs. the neatnik. The artist vs. the precision-freak. The freethinker vs. the tightass. Liberal vs. conservative. Jock vs. nerd. David vs. Goliath. Good vs. evil. Beauty and the Beast. Jekyll^([sic]) and Hyde.2003, Thomas B. Sawyer, Fiction Writing Demystified, page 63:
I put up with a lot from them: sexist and racist jokes, routine descriptions of masculinist sexploitation, flat-out ridicule for my feminist views.2008, Shira Tarrant, Jackson Katz, Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex, and Power, page 148:

Very busy.

I know we are all flat out. That is the way it is. We are flat out, and it becomes a way of life.2006, Gideon Kunda, Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High-Tech Corporation, page 203:
He [Riz Ahmed] duly leaves the way he came in: smiling, flat out, up against the clock.2026 January 31, Danny Leigh, “Lunch with the FT: Riz Ahmed”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:

Australia Lazy, sleeping.

adv

Idiomatic At top speed.

After 10 minutes of running flat out, he was out of breath.
I had travelled one morning down to Aylesbury, and had left my train, and was about to cross the footbridge, when I heard the imperious whistle of a "B1." I paused, and round the bend came the "Master Cutler" with its engine working absolutely flat out.1955 April, W. J. Alcock, “Unforgettable Moments”, in Railway Magazine, page 271:

4 more examples

I was already sliding and too dedicated to change my line and just went flat out completely off the course.1966 November, Steve McQueen, “Motorcycles: What I like in a Bike - and why”, in Popular Science, page 80:
When antelope are running flat out, they resemble very rapidly departing dots; some say they can hit 60 mph.1979 November, Bob Brister, “Apache Antelope”, in Field & Stream, page 128:
I was half way down the strip when I heard a speedboat and ran flat out back to the landing spot.2007, Chris Viner-Smith, Australia′s Forgotten Frontier: The Unsung Police Who Held Our PNG Front Line, page 49:
The company's growth in the rail freight market, with a mix of new-to-rail and contract gains, has led to it working flat out.2023 July 12, Pip Dunn, “Class 99s: the "ultimate Electro-Diesel"”, in RAIL, number 987, page 53:

Idiomatic Without hesitation or reservation, bluntly, no holds barred, totally, outright.

4 more examples

Suppose that Professor Turk has won a prestigious grant and wants to impress his hearer with this fact, without saying flat out that he won it.1984, Aloysius Martinich, Communication and Reference, page 38:
If, on the other hand, you simply deny flat out that you can give a metaphysical account of the concept “woman,” on the grounds that women are not essentially like one another in any respect— a position that, it′s important to notice, entails a commitment to your thinking that the idea of giving such an account is at least coherent— then you leave yourself with a problem about how to justify a politics based on the oppression of women.2001, Nancy Bauer, Simone de Beauvoir, Philosophy, & Feminism, page 38:
“You′re gonna die,” he flat-out told Arfons.2003 October, “Fool Speed Ahead”, in Cincinnati Magazine, page 128:
Sometimes an eagerly promoted product turns out to be a joke — and sometimes it′s just flat out dangerous to life, limb, or commerce.2005 March, Seth Masia, “Almost Hits, Mostly Misses”, in Skiing Heritage: Journal of the International Skiing History Association, page 35:

noun

/ˈflæt ˌaʊt/

US, Dated A total failure.

A baked portion of flatbread; a baked item that is not meant to rise.

His hands were of the same somber hue as the bare feet of the children who clustered near the table, looking toward it whistfully^([sic]) until the eldest mustered sufficient courage to ask his mother for "one of 'em yere flat-outs."1881, Mary E. Jackson, The Spy of Osawatomie; Or, The Mysterious Companions of Old John Brown, page 296:

Food, Lifestyle A wrap, an item of food consisting of various ingredients wrapped in a tortilla or pancake.

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Skiing, Sports A section of piste that is relatively flat, causing or allowing skiers to slow down.

The would-be daredevils are mercifully prevented from going too fast by strategically placed flat-outs.1979 November, Tamsin Venn, “The Pleasures of Keystone”, in Skiing, page 107:

Hobbies, Horse racing, Horseracing, Horses, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Pets, Racing, Sports An uncambered corner of racetrack; a racetrack whose corners are uncambered.

The circuit is very well endowed with corners of all sorts from hairpins to flat-outs, has a 1,540-yd. straight and measures 5.2 miles, partly on an airfield, partly through a built-up area.1952, Motor, volume 102, number 2654, page 31:

verb

To fail after a promising beginning; to disappoint expectations.

1894, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer Abroad, 2015, Tom Sawyer Collection: All Four Books, Enhanced Media, page 413, I see myself there warn't no sense in the tale, to chop square off that way before it come to anything, but I warn't going to say so, because I could see Tom was souring up pretty fast over the way it flatted out […] .

Archaic Synonym of flatten out (to make flat)

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.