flat
adjective
uk/flæt/ usflatter | flattest COMMERCE, FINANCE
if profits, sales, etc. are flat, they are not growing or increasing:
Demand for our machinery abroad is increasing, while growth is flat at home.
STOCK MARKET
if the stock market is flat, the prices of shares are not rising or falling:
The market remained at 9,000 points after a flat day of trading yesterday.
fixed and without any additional costs:
He submitted a flat price for completing the work, including all labour and materials.
HR
used to describe the structure of an organization in which there are not many different levels of employees between the top and the bottom:
Companies with a flat organizational structure can usually make decisions more quickly.
Compare
hierarchy
flat
noun [ C ]
uk/flæt/ us PROPERTY UK
a set of rooms for living in which are part of a larger building and which are usually all on one floor:
a furnished/unfurnished flat
a block of flats
He works as a property developer, buying, renovating and selling on flats in the capital.
Compare
apartment
flat
adverb
uk/flæt/ usfall flat
to be unsuccessful:
The deal fell flat when the two sides could not agree on the terms of the contract.
flat out informal
as hard or as fast as possible:
Towards the end of the project the whole department was working flat out to meet the deadlines.