flat tire
Americannoun
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a pneumatic tire that has lost all or most of its air through leakage, puncture, or the like.
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Older Slang. a dull or socially inept person.
Etymology
Origin of flat tire
First recorded in 1920–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We also help each other out if anything goes wrong—a flat tire or something.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 12, 2025
AAA recommended that travelers get their vehicles routinely inspected before their trip, as well as keeping an emergency kit available in case of a flat tire or a dead battery.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2025
Once, he said, King saw that he was changing a flat tire on his car and offered to lend him his jack.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2024
He’s disarmingly earnest, the kind of guy who’d offer to help you fix a flat tire in a snowstorm.
From Salon • May 22, 2024
Sam tried to tell Skipper's mom how to change a flat tire, but she didn't seem to want to listen.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
