floor
Americannoun
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floors
plural
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that part of a room, hallway, or the like, that forms its lower enclosing surface and upon which one walks.
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a continuous, supporting surface extending horizontally throughout a building, having a number of rooms, apartments, or the like, and constituting one level or stage in the structure; story.
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a level, supporting surface in any structure.
the elevator floor.
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one of two or more layers of material composing a floor.
rough floor; finish floor.
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a platform or prepared level area for a particular use.
a threshing floor.
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the bottom of any more or less hollow place.
the floor of a tunnel.
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a more or less flat extent of surface.
the floor of the ocean.
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the part of a legislative chamber, meeting room, etc., where the members sit, and from which they speak.
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the right of one member to speak from such a place in preference to other members.
The senator from Alaska has the floor.
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the area of a floor, as in a factory or retail store, where items are actually made or sold, as opposed to offices, supply areas, etc..
There are only two salesclerks on the floor.
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the main part of a stock or commodity exchange or the like, as distinguished from the galleries, platform, etc.
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the bottom, base, or minimum charged, demanded, or paid.
The government avoided establishing a price or wage floor.
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Mining. an underlying stratum, as of ore, usually flat.
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Nautical.
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the bottom of a hull.
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any of a number of deep, transverse framing members at the bottom of a steel or iron hull, generally interrupted by and joined to any vertical keel or keelsons.
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the lowermost member of a frame in a wooden vessel.
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verb (used with object)
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floors,
present (3rd person singular)
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floored,
past participle, past
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flooring
present participle
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to cover or furnish with a floor.
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to bring down to the floor or ground; knock down.
He floored his opponent with one blow.
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to overwhelm; defeat.
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to confound or puzzle; nonplus.
I was floored by the problem.
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Also to push (a foot-operated accelerator pedal) all the way down to the floor of a vehicle, for maximum speed or power.
idioms
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mop / wipe the floor with, to overwhelm completely; defeat.
He expected to mop the floor with his opponents.
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take the floor, to arise to address a meeting.
noun
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Also called: flooring. the inner lower surface of a room
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a storey of a building
the second floor
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a flat bottom surface in or on any structure
the floor of a lift
a dance floor
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the bottom surface of a tunnel, cave, river, sea, etc
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mining an underlying stratum
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nautical the bottom, or the lowermost framing members at the bottom, of a vessel
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that part of a legislative hall in which debate and other business is conducted
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the right to speak in a legislative or deliberative body (esp in the phrases get, have, or be given the floor )
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the room in a stock exchange where trading takes place
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the earth; ground
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a minimum price charged or paid
a wage floor
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to begin dancing on a dance floor
verb
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to cover with or construct a floor
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(tr) to knock to the floor or ground
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informal (tr) to disconcert, confound, or defeat
to be floored by a problem
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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floorsimple
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floorssimple
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have flooredperfect
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has flooredperfect
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am flooringprogressive
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are flooringprogressive
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is flooringprogressive
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have been flooringperfect progressive
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has been flooringperfect progressive
Past
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flooredsimple
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had flooredperfect
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was flooringprogressive
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were flooringprogressive
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had been flooringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of floor
First recorded before 900; from Middle English flor, Old English flōr; cognate with Old Norse flōr, Middle Low German vlōr, Middle High German vluor ( German Flur )
Explanation
A floor is the surface at the very bottom, or base, of a room. When you lie on your back on the floor, you are looking up at the ceiling. Your living room floor might be covered with carpet, while the floor of your tent is probably canvas or nylon. While a floor is the bottom of a structure, it's also the lowest surface of the ocean: "Crabs scuttle across the ocean floor." If you live in a dorm or stay in a hotel, your floor is the level of the building where your room is located. Informally, if something floors you, it confounds or confuses you.
Vocabulary lists containing floor
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.
See Examples For:
As the buzzer sounded and Roybal won, 51-47, O’Fallon collasped onto the gym floor in tears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Longer-term Treasury yields set the floor for what Americans pay to borrow on mortgages, car loans and credit cards.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
In the colder months, one radiator is now sufficient to heat Baeli's entire four-bedroom home over three floor she says, because heat is now not being lost.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Treasury yields, which rise when bond prices fall, set a floor on borrowing costs, from mortgage rates to student loans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The tubing, normally coiled on the hook of the trolley the tank sits in, spills out into a pile on the floor beside him.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Meetings were canceled, workers stepped off production floors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Robots are popping up more in everyday life in China, with trial jobs including directing traffic, cleaning houses or working on factory floors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The walls were painted black and balanced by light hardwood floors.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Roadways become dining rooms, dance floors, bars, and parties.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
From this side of the building it was like everything, from the walls to the floors and everything in between, was painted in gold.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
From the panels to the exhibit hall, I was floored by the number of artists, the collectibles and the displays.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
We were floored by how many of you wrote in—so many rich, personal stories that we could only make room for a handful here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
"I am floored when I think about the ecosystem that spawned such rich knowledge gathering and transference," Faruqui says.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Referring to the synthetic soldier, Justine Moore, an AI-focused partner at Silicon Valley investor Andreessen Horowitz, wrote on X: "I'm genuinely floored by how many dudes are following influencers that are clearly AI."
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
At the bottom was a large, dimly lit room walled and floored with stone.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Meanwhile, the primary bathroom is fit for royalty thanks to its all-green marble flooring and vanity.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Lauren Wallace, an criminologist with the Los Angeles Police Department, said she found evidence of blood on gym mats and flooring inside the garage at the artist’s Hollywood Hills residence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
But there are still major problems, including uneven flooring, and they are now desperate to move out of their once-beloved home and into sheltered accommodation.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
National Park Service crews dumped hydrogen peroxide into the water last week and then pieces of the new flooring started breaking loose as crews began vacuuming the pool floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
The strong scent of raw lumber wafted from the flooring and the dark-stained panels that covered the lower half of the walls.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
