flatten
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
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flatten out to fly into a horizontal position, as after a dive.
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flatten in flat.
verb
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(sometimes foll by out) to make or become flat or flatter
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informal (tr)
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to knock down or injure; prostrate
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to crush or subdue
failure will flatten his self-esteem
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Usual US word: flat. (tr) music to lower the pitch of (a note) by one chromatic semitone
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to manoeuvre an aircraft into horizontal flight, esp after a dive
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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flattensimple
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flattenssimple
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have flattenedperfect
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has flattenedperfect
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am flatteningprogressive
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are flatteningprogressive
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is flatteningprogressive
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have been flatteningperfect progressive
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has been flatteningperfect progressive
Past
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flattenedsimple
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had flattenedperfect
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was flatteningprogressive
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were flatteningprogressive
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had been flatteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flatten
Explanation
When you flatten something, you crush it or level it out. If the recycling bin is getting full, you should probably flatten all those cans you're adding to it. You might flatten the batter in a cake pan before baking it, or flatten the grass along a path through a field. If your curly hair tends to get frizzy in humid weather, you may try to flatten it before you leave for school in the morning. You also might flatten yourself against a wall if you're hiding from your friend, or describe a terrible storm this way: "The tornado managed to flatten several buildings."
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.
The idea was to stack them up, allowing each to account for a portion of the reductions needed to flatten the surging rate of global emissions.
From Salon • Jun. 26, 2026
Mr. Talty presents characters worthy of our interest, but he tends to flatten them into stock types.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
It is also encouraging to see the long-term 200-week simple moving average beginning to flatten, a potential sign that the broader downtrend is stabilizing.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
We're here to find out what version of Fury we're going to see - the fleet-footed mover, or someone who has made a conscious decision to flatten his feet and rely more on upper-body movement.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
It finally goes through, but only after I press it against the corner of the machine to flatten it.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
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.
