What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Flat vs Flash - What's the difference?

flat | flash |

As adjectives the difference between flat and flash

is that flat is having no variations in height while flash is expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.

As nouns the difference between flat and flash

is that flat is an area of level ground while flash is a sudden, short, temporary burst of light.

As verbs the difference between flat and flash

is that flat is to make a flat call; to call without raising while flash is to briefly illuminate a scene.

As an adverb flat

is so as to be flat.

As a proper noun Flash is

a popular multimedia platform, most often used for adding animation and interactivity to webpages.

flat

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) flat, from (etyl) Flat] in (Online Etymology Dictionary) flatr (Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from (etyl) [http://ordnet.dk/ods/opslag?opslag=flad&submit=S%F8g Sanskrit, OHG and Greek cognates named.

Alternative forms

* , (l) (obsolete)

Adjective

(flatter)
  • Having no variations in height.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=17 citation , passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].}}
  • (of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.
  • (music, note) Lowered by one semitone.
  • (music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.
  • (music, voice) Without variations in pitch.
  • Of a carbonated drink, with all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.
  • Uninteresting.
  • * Coleridge
    • A large part of the work is, to me, very flat .
  • * Shakespeare
    • How weary, stale, flat , and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world.
  • (wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.
  • Absolute.
  • (slang) Describing certain features, usually the breasts and/or buttocks, that are extremely small or not visible at all.
  • (of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.
  • (juggling, of a throw) Without spin; spinless.
  • Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull.
    • The market is flat .
  • (phonetics, dated, of a consonant) sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant
  • (obsolete) Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.
  • * Shakespeare
    • flat burglary as ever was committed
  • * Marston
    • A great tobacco taker too, — that's flat .
    Synonyms
    * (having no variations in altitude) even, planar, plane, smooth, uniform * (deflated) deflated, punctured * (without variations in pitch) monotone * (uninteresting) boring, dull, uninteresting * flabby
    Antonyms
    * (having no variations in altitude) bumpy, cratered, hilly (of terrain), rough (of a surface), wrinkled (of a surface) * sharp * sharp
    Derived terms
    * flat as a pancake * flatcar * flat-footed * flatly * flatness * flat out * flat rate * flatten * that's flat

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • So as to be flat.
    • Spread the tablecloth flat over the table.
  • Bluntly.
    • I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat .
  • Not exceeding.
    • He can run a mile in four minutes flat .
  • Completely.
    • I am flat broke this month.
  • Directly; flatly.
  • * Herbert
    • Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty.
  • (finance, slang) Without allowance for accrued interest.
    • Synonyms
    * (so as to be flat) * (bluntly) bluntly, curtly * (not exceeding) tops * (completely) absolutely, completely, utterly

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An area of level ground.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a flat .
  • * , chapter=3
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats . I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • (music) A note played a semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol sign placed after the letter representing the note (e.g.'', B?) or in front of the note symbol (''e.g. ??).
  • (informal, automotive) A flat tyre/tire.
  • * 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
    • The next one surrendered his bike, only for that, too, to give him a second flat as he started the descent.
  • (in the plural) A type of ladies' shoes with very low heels.
  • (painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolor/watercolour painting.
  • The part of something:
  • # (swordfighting) The side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.
  • # The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.
  • A wide, shallow container.
  • (geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.
  • A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.
  • A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.
  • (US) A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.
  • A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.
  • (mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
    • (Raymond)
  • (obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.
  • * Holmes
    • Or if you cannnot make a speech, / Because you are a flat .
  • (technical theatre) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan or muslin that can be raised as a platform.
    • Antonyms
    * (note) sharp * (shoes) high heels
    Derived terms
    * mudflat

    Verb

  • (poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without .
  • To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
  • (intransitive, music, colloquial) To fall from the pitch.
  • (music) To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
  • (dated) To make flat; to flatten; to level.
  • (dated) To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.
  • * Barrow
    • Passions are allayed, appetites are flatted .

    Etymology 2

    From 1795, alteration of (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic, New England, now chiefly British) An apartment.
    • Synonyms
    * (apartment) apartment
    Derived terms
    * block of flats * flatlet * flatmate * flatter

    References

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    flash

    English

    (wikipedia flash)

    Etymology 1

    In some senses, from (etyl) flasshen, a variant of flasken, , related to (m).

    Verb

    (es)
  • To briefly illuminate a scene.
  • :
  • To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
  • To be visible briefly.
  • :
  • *, chapter=5
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}
  • To make visible briefly.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) To break forth like a sudden flood of light; to show a momentary brilliance.
  • *(Thomas Talfourd) (1795–1854)
  • *:names which have flashed and thundered as the watch words of unnumbered struggles
  • *(Matthew Arnold) (1822-1888)
  • *:The object is made to flash upon the eye of the mind.
  • * (1809-1892)
  • *:A thought flashed through me, which I clothed in act.
  • To flaunt; to display in a showy manner.
  • :
  • To communicate quickly.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) To write to the memory of an updatable component such as a BIOS chip or games cartridge.
  • :
  • (lb) To release the pressure from a pressurized vessel.
  • (lb) To perform a .
  • To move, or cause to move, suddenly
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 11, author=Jonathan Stevenson, work=BBC
    • , title= West Ham 2-1 Birmingham , passage=But they survived some real pressure as David Murphy flashed a header inches wide of Rob Green's right-hand post
  • (lb) To cover with a thin layer, as objects of glass with glass of a different colour.
  • To trick up in a showy manner.
  • *(Antony Brewer) (fl.1655)
  • *:Limning and flashing it with various dyes.
  • To strike and throw up large bodies of water from the surface; to splash.
  • *(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • *:He rudely flashed the waves about.
  • (lb) To telephone a person, only allowing the phone to ring once, in order to request a call back.
  • :
  • To evaporate suddenly. See (Flash evaporation).
  • To climb (a route) successfully on the first attempt.
    • Synonyms
    * (to briefly illuminate) glint * (telephoning) beep
    Derived terms
    * flashback * flasher * flashforward * flashing * flashlight * flash up
    Related terms
    * flush (possibly)
    See also
    * gleam

    Noun

    (es)
  • A sudden, short, temporary burst of light.
  • (figurative) A sudden and brilliant burst, as of wit or genius.
  • * Shakespeare
    • the flash and outbreak of a fiery mind
  • * Wirt
    • No striking sentiment, no flash of fancy.
  • (linguistics) A language, created by a minority to maintain cultural identity, that cannot be understood by the ruling class; for example, Ebonics.
  • A very short amount of time.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • The Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash .
  • * 1876, , The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ,
    • Quick—something must be done! done in a flash , too! But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention.
  • * 2011 , Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15195384.stm]
    • Fabio Capello insisted Rooney was in the right frame of mind to play in stormy Podgorica despite his father's arrest on Thursday in a probe into alleged betting irregularities, but his flash of temper - when he kicked out at Miodrag Dzudovic - suggested otherwise.
  • Material]] left around the edge of a [[mould, moulded part at the parting line of the mould.
  • (Cockney) The strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders.
  • (US, colloquial) A flashlight or electric torch.
  • * 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), The Big Sleep , Penguin 2011, p. 34:
    • I reached a flash out of my car pocket and went down-grade and looked at the car.
  • A light used for photography - a shortened form of camera flash.
  • (juggling) A pattern where each prop is thrown and caught only once.
  • (archaic) A preparation of capsicum, burnt sugar, etc., for colouring liquor to make it look stronger.
    • Synonyms
    * gleam, glint * (material left around the edge of a mould) moulding flash, molding flash
    Antonyms
    * (very short amount of time) aeon
    Hypernyms
    * light
    Derived terms
    * antiflash * camera flash * flashy * flashbulb * flash flood * flash in the pan * flash memory * flash photography * flash point * flashproof * in a flash * quick as a flash
    See also
    * sparkle, shimmer, glimmer, twinkle

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.
  • * 1892 , Banjo Paterson,
    • The barber man was small and flash , as barbers mostly are,
    He wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar;
  • (UK, of a person) Having plenty of ready money.
  • (UK, of a person) Liable to show off expensive possessions or money.
  • (US, slang) Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously.

    • References

    * * For the sense ‘a short period of time’, the 1858 Notes and Queries of Martim de Albuquerque was consulted. From page 437 of the sixth volume of the second series, published in London by Bell & Dally, 186 Fleet Street, in 1858 : *: Ought we not to collect for posterity the various ways in which very short times are denoted. Besides the one at the head, there are, — in no time, in next to no time, in less than no time, in a trice, in a jiffy, in a brace of shakes, before you can say Jack Robinson, in a crack, in the squeezing of a lemon, in the doubling of your fist, in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment, in an instant, in a flash.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) flasche, flaske; compare (etyl) flache, (etyl) flaque, which is of (etyl) origin, akin to Middle Dutch .

    Noun

    (es)
  • A pool.
    • (Halliwell)
  • (engineering) A reservoir and sluiceway beside a navigable stream, just above a shoal, so that the stream may pour in water as boats pass, and thus bear them over the shoal.
    • Derived terms
    * flash wheel

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----