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:
She said her landlord hasn’t fixed the washer and dryer on her floor in more than a year, and she’s constantly concerned about being forced out by rent hikes.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
A single suitcase lay open on the floor when AFP visited Ren's temporary residence in Beihai.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
That investment and others in the AI and tech sectors have paid off handsomely, but pivoting to a legacy NBA team with a locked-in elevated financial floor could be prudent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
He said: "It wasn't the fact that it was the 15th floor that was significant, what was significant was that the windows had become compromised."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Other inhabitants use silence for cover—the lizards crawling on dead trees, the hordes of gnats hovering above our heads, and the worms wiggling in and out of the muddy swamp floor.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The resulting maps identified "survivable niches" ranging from crater floors several miles across to areas no larger than an astronaut's boot print.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
At the institute, Wright participated in a work-study program — mopping floors, answering phones and interviewing other acting hopefuls to see if they had what it took to make it in the program.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Along the undercroft corridor, a series of modest but well-conceived exhibits tells the story of the Memorial’s construction—highlighted by a display of boots, shovels and other detritus recovered from the soggy floors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 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
There were three floors instead of just one.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
In school, she was also floored by a video of Paul Simon performing the Graceland standout “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” with the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 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
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
Wardley floored his fellow Briton early with a flush right hand and dropped him again in the third, before Dubois regrouped and responded with wave after wave of heavy shots.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
He floored the accelerator, but the Gremlin’s engine was already working at capacity.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
The most disruptive part of the retrofit work was carried out first, and included the insulation of shared walls, flooring and the roof.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Meanwhile, the primary bathroom is fit for royalty thanks to its all-green marble flooring and vanity.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 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
Referencing original black-and-white photos, Jackson designed a massive 120-foot-long set, complete with a stage, seating, bleachers and mahogany flooring, to be filled with up to 500 extras.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Then he took off flooring that car into a yellow blur.
From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
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.
