flatten

present singular third person flattens · participle present flattening · participle past flattened · past flattened

1. transitiveTo make something flat or flatter.

   Mary would flatten the dough before rolling it into pretzels.

   2 more examples

   As there was a lot of damage, we chose the heavy roller to flatten the pitch.

   Attempting to block the police van's path, protesters periodically surrounded the vehicle and eventually flattened one of its tires.

   1989 April 15, Michael Ambrosino, “Acting Up In The Northwest”, in Gay Community News, page 16

2. reflexiveTo press one's body tightly against a surface, such as a wall or floor, especially in order to avoid being seen or harmed.

   With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hob-house Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.

   1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus

3. transitiveTo knock down or lay low.

   The prize fighter quickly flattened his challenger.

4. intransitiveTo become flat or flatter; to plateau.

   Prices have flattened out.

5. intransitiveTo be knocked down or laid low.
6. entertainmentTo lower by a semitone.
7. To make vapid or insipid; to render stale.
8. transitivecomputingTo reduce (a data structure) to one that has fewer dimensions, e.g. a 2×2 array into a list of four elements.
9. transitivecomputer graphicsTo combine (separate layers) into a single image.