Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Thoroughgoing; out-and-out.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective downright; plain; unqualified.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Alternative form of flat out.
  • adverb Alternative form of flat out.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in a blunt direct manner
  • adverb at top speed

Etymologies

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Examples

  • WASHINGTON - The Obama administration and four states are accusing a private, for-profit college of illegally paying recruiters to enroll students in an $11 billion fraud, the latest action in a long-running examination of the industry's recruitment techniques and an allegation the company called "flat-out wrong."

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2011

  • WASHINGTON - The Obama administration and four states are accusing a private, for-profit college of illegally paying recruiters to enroll students in an $11 billion fraud, the latest action in a long-running examination of the industry's recruitment techniques and an allegation the company called "flat-out wrong."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • It's a flat-out, old-school blues record with all the raw edges showing: about as far from the slick production and Auto-Tuned vocals of modern pop recordings as it is possible to get.

    Cyndi Lauper: rhapsody in blues Alfred Hickling 2010

  • Mr. Wilson flat-out advised me to stop and definitely pulled hisself out of the equation, saying the only gun he wanted pointed at him had to have a set of balls and be loaded with cum . . . not bullets.

    Real wifeys Meesha Mink 2011

  • I agree with idahooutdoors, the rich outfitters and landowners are shutting down access and outbidding or flat-out buying out the average joe hunter, not just here in Montana, but it sounds like the trend through out the West.

    I'm doing a little research. 2009

  • Getty Images At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Thursday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claimed that the Journal story was "flat-out wrong," adding that "I'm sorry that they were not more accurate in their reporting."

    Healthamburglar 2010

  • The sheriffs say they barely know these guys, which is a flat-out lie.

    Michael Conniff: Aspen Cocaine the Shame of the City Michael Conniff 2011

  • Success was flat-out impossible to achieve, but I was going to do it anyway.

    Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011

  • The sheriffs say they barely know these guys, which is a flat-out lie.

    Michael Conniff: Aspen Cocaine the Shame of the City Michael Conniff 2011

  • But there was one small problem: my father flat-out refused to accept anything of the sort.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad Jack Canfield 2011

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