Meaning & use
flatten
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To press or roll something until it becomes flat and even.
Grammar: Takes an object: flatten the dough with your hand.
Patterns
- flatten something
- flatten something with something
- flatten something out
Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand.
She flattened the cardboard boxes before putting them in the bin.
Use a spoon to flatten the top of the cake.
verbtransitive
To knock a person or building down so that it lies on the ground.
Grammar: Takes an object; often used about storms, explosions or heavy vehicles.
Patterns
- flatten something
- be flattened by something
The hurricane flattened dozens of houses along the coast.
The truck hit the fence and flattened it completely.
He was flattened by a punch in the first round.
verbintransitive
To become flat, or to lie flat on a surface.
Grammar: No object; often followed by out: the hills flatten out near the sea.
Patterns
- flatten out
- flatten into something
The road flattens out after the next bend.
The hills flatten into wide plains in the east.
The bread will flatten if you press it too hard.
verbtransitivefigurative
To reduce a rate of increase or a difference until it stops growing.
Grammar: Takes an object; common in news and business writing about graphs and figures.
Patterns
- flatten the curve
- flatten something out
- flatten growth
Health officials hope the new rules will flatten the curve of infections.
Sales flattened out in the second half of the year.
The company flattened its management structure, removing several layers.
Word forms
| third person singular | flattens |
|---|---|
| past tense | flattened |
| past participle | flattened |
| -ing form | flattening |
Common combinations
- flatten the curve
- Vaccination helped flatten the curve of hospital admissions.
- flatten a building
- The earthquake flattened buildings across the old town.
- flatten the dough
- Flatten the dough into a thin circle.
- flatten out
- House prices have flattened out after two years of rises.
- flatten a disagreement
- She used humor to flatten the disagreement before it grew.
Synonyms and how they differ
- squash
- Suggests pressing something soft so it loses its shape, often with force; flatten is more neutral and can also mean leveling a surface.
- level
- Focuses on making a surface even or equal in height, while flatten can also mean knocking something down or lowering a rate.
- demolish
- Means destroying a building completely; flatten is less formal and can describe any structure pushed to the ground.
- compress
- Means pressing something into a smaller space, usually with pressure; flatten only means making it flat.
Opposites
Word family
- flat adjective
- Having an even surface, with no high or low parts.
- flatness noun
- The state of being flat or level.
- flattener noun
- A tool or device used to make something flat.
- flattened adjective
- Pressed or knocked down so that it is flat.
Commonly confused: flatten or flatter?
flatten vs flatter
Flatter means to praise someone insincerely; flatten means to make something flat. They sound similar but the vowel in the first syllable is different: /ˈflætən/ versus /ˈflætə(r)/.
Practice
The government introduced new measures to ______ the curve of infections.
Choose one answer.
After 'to' we need the base form 'flatten', and the phrase 'flatten the curve' means to slow the rise in cases. 'Flatter' is a different verb meaning to praise insincerely, and 'flattened'/'flattening' do not fit after 'to' here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flatten”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.