Plain
In geography, a plain is a flat, sweeping landmass that generally does not change much in elevation. Plains occur as lowlands along the bottoms of valleys or on the doorsteps of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands.In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides, but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, by mountains, or by cliffs. Where a geological region contains more than one plain, they may be connected by a pass (sometimes termed a gap). Coastal plains would mostly rise from sea level until they run into elevated features such as mountains or plateaus.Plains are one of the major landforms on earth, where they are present on all continents, and would cover more than one-third of the world’s land area. Plains may have been formed from flowing lava, deposited by water, ice, wind, or formed by erosion by these agents from hills and mountains. Plains would generally be under the grassland (temperate or subtropical), steppe (semi-arid), savannah (tropical) or tundra (polar) biomes. In a few instances, deserts and rainforests can also be plains.Plains in many areas are important for agriculture because where the soils were deposited as sediments they may be deep and fertile, and the flatness facilitates mechanization of crop production; or because they support grasslands which provide good grazing for livestock.
Plain (adjective)
Flat, level. from 14th c.
Plain (adjective)
Simple.
Plain (adjective)
Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. from 14th c.
“He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.”
“a plain tune”
Plain (adjective)
Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
“a plain pink polycotton skirt”
Plain (adjective)
Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary. from 16th c.
“They’re just plain people like you or me.”
Plain (adjective)
Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. from 17th c.
“Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?”
Plain (adjective)
Obvious.
Plain (adjective)
Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text). from 20th c.
Plain (adjective)
Evident to one’s senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable. from 14th c.
Plain (adjective)
Open.
Plain (adjective)
Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier). from 14th c.
“His answer was just plain nonsense.”
Plain (adjective)
Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. from 14th c.
“Let me be plain with you: I don’t like her.”
Plain (adjective)
Not unusually beautiful; unattractive. from 17th c.
“Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face.”
Plain (adverb)
Simply
“It was just plain stupid.”
“I plain forgot.”
Plain (noun)
A lamentation.
Plain (noun)
An expanse of land with relatively low relief.
Plain (noun)
A battlefield.
Plain (noun)
A plane.
Plain (verb)
To complain. 13th-19th c.
Plain (verb)
To lament, bewail. from 14th c.
“to plain a loss”
Plain (verb)
To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.
Plain (verb)
To make plain or manifest; to explain.
Flat (adjective)
Having no variations in height.
“The land around here is flat.”
Flat (adjective)
Without variations in pitch.
Flat (adjective)
Describing certain features, usually the breasts and/or buttocks, that are extremely small or not visible at all.
“That girl is completely flat on both sides.”
Flat (adjective)
Lowered by one semitone.
Flat (adjective)
Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.
Flat (adjective)
Deflated, especially because of a puncture.
Flat (adjective)
Uninteresting.
“The party was a bit flat.”
Flat (adjective)
Of a carbonated drink, with all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.
Flat (adjective)
Lacking acidity without being sweet.
Flat (adjective)
Unable to emit power; dead.
Flat (adjective)
Without spin; spinless.
Flat (adjective)
Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; dull and boring.
“The market is flat.”
“The dialogue in your screenplay is flat — you need to make it more exciting.”
Flat (adjective)
Absolute; downright; peremptory.
“His claim was in flat contradiction to experimental results.”
“I’m not going to the party and that’s flat.”
Flat (adjective)
sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant
Flat (adjective)
Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign “to”.
“Many flat adverbs, as in ‘run fast’, ‘buy cheap’, etc. are from Old English.”
Flat (adjective)
Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.
Flat (adjective)
Flattening at the ends.
Flat (adjective)
Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.
“round”
“The author created the site to flesh out the books’ flatter characters, who were actually quite well developed in her own mind.”
Flat (adverb)
So as to be flat.
“Spread the tablecloth flat over the table.”
Flat (adverb)
Bluntly.
“I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat.”
Flat (adverb)
Not exceeding.
“He can run a mile in four minutes flat.”
Flat (adverb)
Completely.
“I am flat broke this month.”
Flat (adverb)
Directly; flatly.
Flat (adverb)
Without allowance for accrued interest.
Flat (noun)
An area of level ground.
Flat (noun)
A note played a semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ sign placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).
Flat (noun)
A flat tyre/tire.
Flat (noun)
A type of ladies’ shoes with very low heels.
“She liked to walk in her flats more than in her high heels.”
Flat (noun)
A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.
Flat (noun)
A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolor/watercolour painting.
Flat (noun)
The flat part of something:
Flat (noun)
The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.
Flat (noun)
A wide, shallow container.
“a flat of strawberries”
Flat (noun)
A large mail piece measuring at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, such as catalogs, magazines, and unfolded paper enclosed in large envelopes.
Flat (noun)
A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.
Flat (noun)
A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.
Flat (noun)
A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.
Flat (noun)
A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.
Flat (noun)
A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.
Flat (noun)
A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
Flat (noun)
A dull fellow; a simpleton.
Flat (noun)
A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin that depicts a building or other part of a scene, also called backcloth and backdrop.
Flat (noun)
An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.
Flat (verb)
To make a raising.
Flat (verb)
To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
Flat (verb)
To fall from the pitch.
Flat (verb)
To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
Flat (verb)
To make flat; to flatten; to level.
Flat (verb)
To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.
Plain (adjective)
not decorated or elaborate; simple or basic in character
“everyone dined at a plain wooden table”
“good plain food”
Plain (adjective)
without a pattern; in only one colour
“a plain fabric”
Plain (adjective)
(of paper) without lines.
Plain (adjective)
bearing no indication as to contents or affiliation
“donations can be put in a plain envelope”
Plain (adjective)
having no pretensions; not remarkable or special
“a plain, honest man with no nonsense about him”
Plain (adjective)
(of a person) without a special title or status
“for years he was just plain Bill”
Plain (adjective)
easy to perceive or understand; clear
“the advantages were plain to see”
“it was plain that something was wrong”
Plain (adjective)
(of written or spoken usage) clearly expressed, without the use of technical or abstruse terms
“an insurance policy written in plain English”
Plain (adjective)
not using concealment or deception; frank
“there were indrawn breaths at such plain speaking”
Plain (adjective)
(of a person) not beautiful or attractive
“a plain, round-faced woman”
Plain (adjective)
sheer; simple (used for emphasis)
“the main problem is just plain exhaustion”
Plain (adjective)
denoting or relating to a type of knitting stitch produced by putting the needle through the front of each stitch from left to right.
Plain (adverb)
used for emphasis
“perhaps the youth was just plain stupid”
Plain (adverb)
clearly or unequivocally
“I’m finished with you, I’ll tell you plain”
Plain (noun)
a large area of flat land with few trees
“the coastal plain”
Plain (verb)
mourn or lament.
Plain (verb)
complain.
Plain (verb)
emit a mournful or plaintive sound.
Flat (adjective)
having a level surface; without raised areas or indentations
“he sat down on a flat rock”
“trim the surface of the cake to make it completely flat”
Flat (adjective)
(of land) without hills
“thirty-five acres of flat countryside”
Flat (adjective)
(of an expanse of water) calm and without waves.
Flat (adjective)
not sloping
“the flat roof of a garage”
Flat (adjective)
having a broad level surface but little height or depth; shallow
“a flat rectangular box”
“a flat cap”
Flat (adjective)
(of shoes) without heels or with very low heels.
Flat (adjective)
lacking emotion; dull and lifeless
“‘I’m sorry,’ he said, in a flat voice”
Flat (adjective)
(of a person) without energy or enthusiasm
“his sense of intoxication wore off until he felt flat and weary”
Flat (adjective)
(of trade, prices, etc.) not showing much activity; sluggish
“the UK housing market was flat”
Flat (adjective)
(of a colour) uniform
“a flat shade of grey”
Flat (adjective)
(of a photograph or negative) lacking contrast.
Flat (adjective)
(of a sparkling drink) having lost its effervescence
“she sipped some of the flat champagne”
Flat (adjective)
(of something kept inflated, especially a tyre) having lost some or all of its air, typically because of a puncture.
Flat (adjective)
(of a battery) having exhausted its charge.
Flat (adjective)
(of a fee, wage, or price) the same in all cases, not varying with changed conditions or in particular cases
“a flat fare of £2.50”
Flat (adjective)
(of a denial, contradiction, or refusal) completely definite and firm; absolute
“the request was met with a flat refusal”
Flat (adjective)
(of musical sound) below true or normal pitch.
Flat (adjective)
(of a key) having a flat or flats in the signature.
Flat (adjective)
(of a note) a semitone lower than a specified note
“E flat”
Flat (adjective)
relating to flat racing
“the Flat season”
Flat (adverb)
in or to a horizontal position
“she had been knocked flat by the blast”
“he was lying flat on his back”
Flat (adverb)
lying in close juxtaposition, especially against another surface
“his black curly hair was blown flat across his skull”
Flat (adverb)
so as to become smooth and even
“I hammered the metal flat”
Flat (adverb)
completely; absolutely
“I thought you’d turn me down flat”
“Myers was flat broke”
Flat (adverb)
used with an expression of time to emphasize how quickly something can be done or has been done
“you can prepare a healthy meal in ten minutes flat”
Flat (adverb)
below the true or normal pitch of musical sound
“it wasn’t a question of singing flat, but of simply singing the wrong notes”
Flat (noun)
the flat part of something
“she placed the flat of her hand over her glass”
Flat (noun)
an area of low level ground, especially near water
“the shingle flats of the lake”
Flat (noun)
a shallow container in which seedlings are grown and sold.
Flat (noun)
a shoe with a very low heel or no heel
“she wore a white strapless dress and a pair of electric blue flats”
Flat (noun)
a railway wagon with a flat floor and no sides or roof; a flatcar.
Flat (noun)
an upright section of stage scenery mounted on a movable frame.
Flat (noun)
a flat tyre
“I’ve got a flat—there were nails under the wheel”
Flat (noun)
flat racing.
Flat (noun)
a musical note lowered a semitone below natural pitch.
Flat (noun)
the sign ♭, indicating a flat.
Flat (noun)
a set of rooms forming an individual residence, typically on one floor and within a larger building containing a number of such residences.
“a block of flats”
Flat (verb)
lower (a note) by a semitone
“‘blue’ harmony emphasizing the flatted third and seventh”
Flat (verb)
make flat; flatten
“flat the loaves down”
Flat (verb)
live in or share a flat
“Zoë flats in Auckland”