1
as in smoothing
to make free from breaks, curves, or bumps
flattened out the wrinkled paper before attempting to trace the pattern
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in whipping
to defeat by a large margin
if you don't understand the rules, you're going to get flattened when you try to play
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flattening
And if some of those characters that aren’t the leads are not firing on all cylinders, the film can really start flattening.
—
Kevin Cassidy, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
What remains of the material that birthed this still-growing protostar swirls around it, flattening out and eventually forming a protoplanetary disk in which planets can be born.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025
By midmorning in the Central Valley, the light turns hard and white, bleaching the sky and flattening every shadow.
—Dean Florez, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2025
Org charts are flattening and reforming.
—Maria Ross, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
To form more secure bonds, engineers are flattening the last few nanometers of oxide.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2024
Kevin Cassidy, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
What remains of the material that birthed this still-growing protostar swirls around it, flattening out and eventually forming a protoplanetary disk in which planets can be born.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025
By midmorning in the Central Valley, the light turns hard and white, bleaching the sky and flattening every shadow.
—Dean Florez, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2025
Org charts are flattening and reforming.
—Maria Ross, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
To form more secure bonds, engineers are flattening the last few nanometers of oxide.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flattening
Verb
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Gallant, sleeveless and heavily tattooed, began slowly smoothing a white sheet atop his model’s shoulders.—
Sarah Larson,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The multi-styler comes with all kinds of attachments, including several long barrels, two smoothing brushes, a round volumizing brush, and a smoothing dryer.—
Isabel Garcia,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Milwaukee mother who claimed her stepfather threw her baby from a balcony has now been charged with child abuse herself, accused of whipping her younger brothers.—
Drake Bentley,
jsonline.com,
28 Aug. 2025
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Olbinski ran to his car, while others hunkered down and braved the brutal winds and whipping sand.—
Hayleigh Evans,
AZCentral.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
However, a Minnesota court struck down the binary trigger ban, arguing that the legislature violated the state constitution’s single-subject clause by burying the ban inside a sprawling spending bill.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Wednesday was being restrained by Isaac, the first part of his plan before burying her alive.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
He was reminded that his career had been shaped by overcoming doubts and slights going back to high school, when he was offered the same amount of Division I football scholarships that were offered to the average sportswriter who covers him.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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But by the end, in its rush, the movie still hasn’t quite come up with a point of view on whether McCartney really got over his bust-up with Lennon with a little help from his Wings friends, or whether forming a band was ultimately incidental to overcoming any lingering separation anxiety.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
For the first time, Israel launched an airstrike in Qatar, bombing a building in Doha that houses Hamas political leadership.—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
9 Sep. 2025
-
In this season of Platonic, Luke Macfarlane's character Charlie has a mental breakdown after bombing his dream opportunity to compete on Jeopardy!—
Dory Jackson,
People.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The junior launched himself through a pile for a two-yard touchdown rush, trimming the deficit to 35-34.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
7 Sep. 2025
-
With revisions earlier this year mostly trimming prior readings, more downward revisions could be due.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
There was a blow-up doll that people were throwing around in the audience.—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
10 Sep. 2025
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If Jennings can’t play, Jones will be throwing to a receiver group that caught a grand total of four passes in Week 1, with all of them being Ricky Pearsall’s.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
How is annihilating the world a good defensive measure?—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
2 Sep. 2025
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An example of that is the suggestion that certain dark matter candidates could become trapped in neutron stars, gathering and gradually annihilating each other thus heating these stellar remnants.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flattening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flattening. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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