Flat vs Plumb - What's the difference?
flat | plumb | Related terms |
Having no variations in height.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=17 (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
* Shakespeare
(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.
(phonetics, dated, of a consonant) sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant
(obsolete) Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.
* Shakespeare
* Marston
So as to be flat.
Bluntly.
Not exceeding.
Completely.
Directly; flatly.
* Herbert
(finance, slang) Without allowance for accrued interest.
An area of level ground.
* Francis Bacon
* , chapter=3
, title= (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,
(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.
(obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.
* Holmes
(technical theatre) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan or muslin that can be raised as a platform.
(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
truly vertical, as indicated by a plumb line
(cricket) Describing an LBW where the batsman is hit on the pads directly in front of his wicket and should be given out.
In a vertical direction; perpendicularly.
* Milton
(informal) Squarely, directly; completely.
A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.
(nautical) A weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water.
To determine the depth, generally of a liquid; to sound.
To attach to a water supply and drain.
To think about or explore in depth, to get to the bottom of, especially to plumb the depths of .
To use a plumb bob as a measuring or aligning tool.
To accurately align vertically or horizontally.
(dated) To seal something with lead.
To work as a plumber.
(rare) To fall or sink like a plummet.
(US, colloquial, figuratively, obsolete) To trace a road or track; to follow it to its end.
(nautical) To position vertically above or below.
Flat is a related term of plumb.
In lang=en terms the difference between flat and plumb
is that flat is to become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface while plumb is to work as a plumber.In dated|lang=en terms the difference between flat and plumb
is that flat is (dated) to render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress while plumb is (dated) to seal something with lead.As adjectives the difference between flat and plumb
is that flat is having no variations in height while plumb is truly vertical, as indicated by a plumb line.As adverbs the difference between flat and plumb
is that flat is so as to be flat while plumb is in a vertical direction; perpendicularly.As nouns the difference between flat and plumb
is that flat is an area of level ground or flat can be (archaic|new england|now chiefly british) an apartment while plumb is a little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc, to indicate a vertical direction.As verbs the difference between flat and plumb
is that flat is (poker slang) to make a flat call; to call without while plumb is to determine the depth, generally of a liquid; to sound.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)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. […].}}
- A large part of the work is, to me, very flat .
- How weary, stale, flat , and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world.
- The market is flat .
- flat burglary as ever was committed
- 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 * flabbyAntonyms
* (having no variations in altitude) bumpy, cratered, hilly (of terrain), rough (of a surface), wrinkled (of a surface) * sharp * sharpDerived terms
* flat as a pancake * flatcar * flat-footed * flatly * flatness * flat out * flat rate * flatten * that's flatAdverb
(en adverb)- Spread the tablecloth flat over the table.
- I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat .
- He can run a mile in four minutes flat .
- I am flat broke this month.
- Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty.
Synonyms
* (so as to be flat) * (bluntly) bluntly, curtly * (not exceeding) tops * (completely) absolutely, completely, utterlyNoun
(en noun)- Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a flat .
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.}}
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.
- (Raymond)
- Or if you cannnot make a speech, / Because you are a flat .
Antonyms
* (note) sharp * (shoes) high heelsDerived terms
* mudflatVerb
- Passions are allayed, appetites are flatted .
Etymology 2
From 1795, alteration of (etyl) .Synonyms
* (apartment) apartmentDerived terms
* block of flats * flatlet * flatmate * flatterReferences
Anagrams
* 1000 English basic words ----plumb
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Synonyms
* (truly vertical) perpendicularAdverb
(-)- Plumb down he falls.
- It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.
- Years ago the well plumb dried out, not a drop of water in there since.