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Old vs Flat - What's the difference?

old | flat | Related terms |

Old is a related term of flat.


As nouns the difference between old and flat

is that old is age while flat is an area of level ground or flat can be (archaic|new england|now chiefly british) an apartment.

As an adjective flat is

having no variations in height.

As an adverb flat is

so as to be flat.

As a verb flat is

(poker slang) to make a flat call; to call without.

old

English

(wikipedia old)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
  • :
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
  • #Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
  • #:
  • #Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
  • #:
  • Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
  • :
  • Having existed or lived for the specified time.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) Of an earlier time.
  • #Former, previous.
  • #:
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • #*1994 , Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
  • #*:But over my old life, a new life had formed.
  • #That is no longer in existence.
  • #:
  • #Obsolete; out-of-date.
  • #:
  • #Familiar.
  • #:
  • Tiresome.
  • :
  • Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  • A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
  • :
  • (lb) Excessive, abundant.
  • *1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :
  • *:URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;
  • Synonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) ancient, long in the tooth * (having lived for many years) aged, ageing / aging, elderly, long in the tooth, on in years * (having existed or lived for the specified time) aged, of age * (former) erstwhile, ex-, former, one-time, past * (out-of-date) antiquated, obsolete (words) * See also

    Antonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) brand new, fresh, new * (having lived for many years) young * (former) current, latest, new

    Derived terms

    * age-old * any old * big old * good old * little old * old age * old-age * Old Akkadian * Old Armenian * Old Assyrian * old as the hills * Old Babylonian * Old Blighty * Old Bulgarian * Old Church Slavic * Old Church Slavonic * old college try * old country * Old Czech * Old Dutch * olden * Old Egyptian * Old English * old fart * old-fashioned * old flame * Old Flemish * old fogey * old franc * Old Franconian * Old Frankish * Old French * Old Frisian * Old Glory * old gold * old growth * old guard * old hand * old hat * Old High German * Old Icelandic * oldies * Old Indic * Old Indo-Aryan * Old Ionic * Old Iranian * Old Irish * old lace * old lady * Old Latin * Old Low Franconian * Old Low Frankish * Old Low German * old maid * old man * old money * Old Nick * Old Norse * Old North French * Old Norwegian * old penny * Old Persian * * Old Prussian * old regime * Old Russian * olds * old salt * old saw * Old Saxon * Old Scandinavian * old school * Old Slavic * Old Slavonic * old sweat * Old Testament * old-time * old-timer * Old Welsh * old woman * Old World * old-world * over-old * same old same old * same old story * some old * you can't put an old head on young shoulders

    Noun

    (usually used as plural)
  • People who are old; old beings; the older generation; usually used with the .
  • A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

    Statistics

    *

    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 ----