Flat vs Ground - What's the difference?

In lang=en terms the difference between flat and ground

is that flat is 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. ♭♪) while ground is the tune on which descants are raised; the plain song.

In intransitive terms the difference between flat and ground

is that flat is to become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface while ground is to run aground; to strike the bottom and remain fixed.

As adjectives the difference between flat and ground

is that flat is having no variations in height while ground is crushed, or reduced to small particles.

As nouns the difference between flat and ground

is that flat is an area of level ground while ground is (surface of the Earth) The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.

As verbs the difference between flat and ground

is that flat is to make a flat call; to call without raising while ground is to connect (an electrical conductor or device) to a ground.

As an adverb flat

is so as to be flat.

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 ----

ground

English

(wikipedia ground)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) grund , from (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* (contraction used in electronics)

Noun

(senseid)(uncountable) The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.

* , chapter=23

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.}}

Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […] Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground , Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts.}}

(uncountable) Terrain.

(uncountable) Soil, earth.

(countable) The bottom of a body of water.

Basis, foundation, groundwork, legwork.

Background, context, framework, surroundings.

* '>citation

The plain surface upon which the figures of an artistic composition are set.

crimson flowers on a white ground

In sculpture, a flat surface upon which figures are raised in relief.

In point lace, the net of small meshes upon which the embroidered pattern is applied.

Brussels ground

In etching, a gummy substance spread over the surface of a metal to be etched, to prevent the acid from eating except where an opening is made by the needle.

(architecture, mostly, in the plural) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the plastering, to which mouldings etc. are attached.

Grounds are usually put up first and the plastering floated flush with them.

(countable) A soccer stadium.

(electricity, Canadian, and, US) An electrical conductor connected to the ground.

(electricity, Canadian, and, US) A level of electrical potential used as a zero reference.

(countable, cricket) The area of grass on which a match is played (a cricket field); the entire arena in which it is played; the part of the field behind a batsman's popping crease where he can not be run out (hence to make one's ground ).

(music) A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody.

(music) The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song.

* 1592 , (William Shakespeare), '', act III, scene vii, in: ''The Works of Shake?pear V (1726), page 149:

Buck''&91;] The Mayor is here at hand; pretend ?ome fear, // Be not you ?poke with, but by mighty ?uit; // And look you get a prayer-book in your hand, // And ?tand between two churchmen, good my lord, // For on that ground I’ll build a holy de?cant: // And be not ea?ily won to our reque?ts: // Play the maid’s part, ?till an?wer nay, and take it.

The pit of a theatre.

(Ben Jonson)

Synonyms

* (electricity) earth (British)

Derived terms

* aboveground / above ground * air-to-ground * aground * break ground * breeding ground * burial ground * common ground * cricket ground * cumber ground / cumber-ground / cumberground * dead ground * ear to the ground * facts on the ground * fairground * figure and ground * from the ground up * gain ground * get off the ground * give ground * gill-over-the-ground * go to ground * ground bait * ground ball * ground bass * ground beetle * ground berry * ground-breaker * ground-breaking * ground cable * ground cedar * ground cherry * ground cloth * ground clutter * ground control * ground cover * ground effect * ground fault * ground fir * ground fire * ground fish * ground floor * ground forces * ground game * ground glass * ground hemlock * ground hog / ground-hog / groundhog * ground itch * ground ivy * ground lamella * ground laurel * ground level * ground loop * groundly * ground meristem * ground noise * ground offensive * ground out * ground pangolin * ground pine * ground plan * ground plane * ground plate * ground plum * ground pounder * ground proximity warning system * ground rattlesnake * ground rent * ground robin * ground roller * ground rule / ground-rule * ground-shaker * ground shark * ground sloth * groundsman * ground snake * ground speed * ground spider * ground squirrel * ground state * ground stroke * ground substance * ground swell * ground tackle * ground tissue * ground-to-air * ground truth * ground water * ground wave * ground wire * ground zero * groundwork * high ground / moral high ground * hit the ground running * home ground * kiss the ground someone walks on * know one's ass from a hole in the ground * lose ground * middle ground * neutral ground * off the ground * on the ground * parade ground * picnic ground * pleasure ground * proving ground * run into the ground * school ground * solid ground / on solid ground * stamping ground * stand one's ground * stomping ground * teeing ground * testing ground * thick on the ground * thin on the ground * underground * vantage ground * (ground)

Verb

(en verb)
To connect (an electrical conductor or device) to a ground.

To punish, especially a child or teenager, by forcing him/her to stay at home and/or give up certain privileges.

If you don't clean your room, I'll be forced to ground you.

Carla, you are grounded until further notice for lying to us about where you were yesterday.

My kids are currently grounded from television.

To forbid (an aircraft or pilot) to fly.

Because of the bad weather, all flights were grounded .

To give a basic education in a particular subject; to instruct in elements or first principles.

Jim was grounded in maths.

(baseball) to hit a ground ball; to hit a ground ball which results in an out. Compare fly (verb(regular)) and line (verb).

Jones grounded to second in his last at-bat.

(cricket) (of a batsman) to place his bat, or part of his body, on the ground behind the popping crease so as not to be run out

To run aground; to strike the bottom and remain fixed.

The ship grounded on the bar.

To found; to fix or set, as on a foundation, reason, or principle; to furnish a ground for; to fix firmly.

* Bible, Ephesians iii. 17

being rooted and grounded in love

* Sir W. Hamilton

So far from warranting any inference to the existence of a God, would, on the contrary, ground even an argument to his negation.

(fine arts) To cover with a ground, as a copper plate for etching, or as paper or other materials with a uniform tint as a preparation for ornament.

Etymology 2

* See also milled.

Verb

(head)
(grind)

I ground the coffee up nicely.

Adjective

(-)
Crushed, or reduced to small particles.

ground mustard seed

Processed by grinding.

lenses of ground glass

Synonyms

* milled

Derived terms

* ground beef * ground pepper * stone-ground

Statistics

* English irregular past participles English irregular simple past forms 1000 English basic words