flatten

verb

flat·ten | \ ˈfla-tᵊn

flattened; flattening\ ˈflat-niŋ

, ˈfla-tə- \

Definition of flatten

transitive verb

: to make flat: such as

a : to make level or smooth

b : to knock down also : to defeat decisively

c : to make dull or uninspired —often used with out

d : to make lusterless flatten paint

e : to stabilize especially at a lower level

intransitive verb

: to become flat or flatter: such as

a : to become dull or spiritless

b : to extend in or into a flat position or form

c : to become uniform or stabilized often at a new lower level —usually used with out

Other Words from flatten Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about flatten

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Synonyms & Antonyms for flatten

Synonyms

even, level, plane, smooth, smoothen

Antonyms

rough, roughen

Examples of flatten in a Sentence

Dozens of houses were flattened by the tornado. The boxer was flattened in the seventh round. The team got flattened in the first round of the play-offs. Prices are expected to flatten after the holiday shopping season.

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s a certain girl-power sheen to this movie that winds up flattening the female characters rather than rendering them as complex, realistic beings. — Time, "Review: Late Night Is a Pitch-Perfect Workplace Comedy," 7 June 2019 In 1908, there was an enormous explosion near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, that flattened roughly 770 square miles of forest, likely due to a meteorite. — Fox News, "Football field-sized asteroid could hit Earth this year," 7 June 2019 The Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California’s history, had ripped through Butte County less than two months before, flattening entire communities, killing scores of people, and displacing tens of thousands. — Caitlin Harrington, Outside Online, "A Muralist Paints the Camp Fire's Wreckage," 6 June 2019 The result had a stubbycircular face like that of a somewhat satanic Thomas the Tank Engine: flattened nose, square eye sockets with deep-set triangular eyes, a round, shouty mouth. — Oliver Morton, WIRED, "The Beauty and Madness of Sending a Man to the Moon," 4 June 2019 Wasilla police deployed spike strips near the Wasilla Walmart that flattened the Durango's front passenger tire, but Jones kept going, running a red light and colliding with a Ford pickup, troopers said. — Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, "Troopers: Palmer man leads officers on wild chase that ends near Wasilla Walmart," 6 June 2018 The ever-flattening interest-rate curve -- and signs of inversion -- underscores the market’s capitulation on the Fed’s indicative tightening path. — Sid Verma, Bloomberg.com, "Bond Bulls Rejoice: There's Growing Evidence of Peak Bear Market," 19 Apr. 2018 Just as Tuesday's meteor lit up the Michigan skies, about 30 scientists were gathered in California to discuss the biggest meteor hit in modern history -- the 1908 explosion over Tunguska, Russia, that flattened 800 square miles of forest. — CBS News, "Michigan meteor could have been meatier, scientists say," 18 Jan. 2018 Eating fuels hunger, a devil’s full belly flattening as milk stretches her breasts. — Karen Russell, The New Yorker, "Orange World," 4 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flatten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.