flatten
verb/ˈflæ.tən/ · [ˈflæ.tn̩]
Etymology From flat + -en.
9 senses
- 1To make something flat or flatter.
- 2To press one's body tightly against a surface, such as a…
- 3To knock down or lay low.
- 4To become flat or flatter; to plateau.
- 5To be knocked down or laid low.
- 6To lower by a semitone.
- 7To make vapid or insipid; to render stale.
- 8To reduce (a data structure) to one that has fewer…
- 9To combine (separate layers) into a single image.
To make something flat or flatter.
- As there was a lot of damage, we chose the heavy roller to flatten the pitch.
- Mary would flatten the dough before rolling it into pretzels.
1 more example
- Attempting to block the police van's path, protesters periodically surrounded the vehicle and eventually flattened one of its tires.1989 April 15, Michael Ambrosino, “Acting Up In The Northwest”, in Gay Community News, page 16:
To press one's body tightly against a surface, such as a wall or floor, especially in order to avoid being seen or harmed.
- With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hob-house Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus:
To knock down or lay low.
- The prize fighter quickly flattened his challenger.
To become flat or flatter; to plateau.
- Prices have flattened out.
To be knocked down or laid low.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music To lower by a semitone.
To make vapid or insipid; to render stale.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences To reduce (a data structure) to one that has fewer dimensions, e.g. a 2×2 array into a list of four elements.
Computer graphics, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To combine (separate layers) into a single image.
- Derived terms
- flattenability, flattenable, flatten down, flattened rice, flattener, flatten out, flatten the curve, overflatten, unflatten