Meanings
nounmahogany flat (plural mahogany flats)
plural mahogany flats
- UKobsoleteslangA bedbug.
When ready for sea we went up to Greenhithe, that their lordships might inspect us, and then to Portsmouth, to take troops to Cork, a pleasant trip; but the troops left us a legacy of "mahogany flats," with which their beds were so swarming that we never got them under.
1892, Sir George Giffard, Reminiscences of a Naval Officer, page 45
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
From their colour and shape.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
mahogany flat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mahogany%20flat
MLA
“mahogany flat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mahogany%20flat. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mahogany flat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mahogany%20flat.
Source: mahogany flat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.