flats

Noun

flat (plural flats)

1. An area of level ground (sometimes covered with shallow or tidal water).
   • The hovercraft skimmed across the open flats.
   1. Level ground in general.
      • I can run on the flat but not up hills.
   2. (sometimes) Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.
      • This horse will do better over the flat.
   3. (Australia, sometimes) the area in the centre of a racecourse.
      • As forecast, Joe suspected nothing as he pottered round the flat in the sunshine, absorbed in the task of picking winners.1963, George Blaikie, Scandals of Australia's Strange Past, Adelaide: Rigby Limited, page 117
   4. The areas behind the line of scrimmage to either side of an offensive football formation.
2. A note played one chromatic semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).
   • The key of E♭ has three flats.

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