- [countable] (British English) (also apartment especially in North American English)a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor of a building
- They're renting a furnished flat on the third floor.
- to buy/sell a flat
- in a flat Do you live in a flat or a house?
- a basement/ground-floor/top-floor flat
- a two-bedroom flat
- The park was surrounded by high-rise flats and office blocks.
- a new block of flats
- Many large old houses have been converted into flats.
- Children from the flats (= the block of flats) across the street were playing outside.
Collocations Moving houseMoving house Renting- live in a rented/(especially North American English) rental property
- rent/share/move into a furnished house/(British English) flat/(especially North American English) apartment
- rent a studio/(British English) a studio flat/(especially North American English) a studio apartment/(British English) a bedsit
- find/get a housemate/(British English) a flatmate/(North American English) a roommate
- sign/break the lease/rental agreement/contract
- extend/renew/terminate the lease/(British English) tenancy
- afford/pay the rent/the bills/(North American English) the utilities
- (especially British English) fall behind with/ (especially North American English) fall behind on the rent
- pay/lose/return a damage deposit/(North American English) security deposit
- give/receive a month’s/two-weeks’ notice to leave/vacate the property
- have a flat/an apartment/a room (British English) to let/(especially North American English) for rent
- rent (out)/lease (out)/ (British English) let (out)/sublet a flat/an apartment/a house/a property
- collect/increase/raise the rent
- evict the existing tenants
- attract/find new/prospective tenants
- invest in rental property/(British English) property to let/(British English) the buy-to-let market
- buy/acquire/purchase a house/(a) property/(especially North American English) (a piece of) prime real estate
- call/contact/use (British English) an estate agent/(North American English) a Realtor™/(North American English) a real estate agent/broker
- make/ (British English) put in an offer on a house
- put down/save for (British English) a deposit on a house
- make/put/save for (especially North American English) a down payment on a house/home
- apply for/arrange/take out a mortgage/home loan
- (struggle to) pay the mortgage
- make/meet/keep up/cover the monthly mortgage payments/(British English also) repayments
- (British English) repossess/ (especially North American English) foreclose on somebody’s home/house
- put your house/property on the market/up for sale/up for auction
- increase/lower your price/the asking price
- have/hold/hand over the deed/(especially British English) deeds of/to the house, land, etc.
Extra ExamplesTopics Houses and homesa1, Buildingsa1- Do you think that the council could find me another flat?
- Even the prices of small one-bedroom flats are unbelievable.
- I'll meet you back at your flat.
- She lives in the top flat.
- The flat is located in a modern development.
- The landlady found they had been illegally subletting the flat.
- The musician rented a flat in a fashionable area of London.
- They live in the next flat.
- We got her a flat in the same block as ours.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- spacious
- modest
- …
- block
- have
- own
- rent
- …
- be located
- face something
- overlook something
- …
- at a/the flat
- in a/the flat
- convert something into flats
- divide something into flats
- make something into flats
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [singular] the flat of something the flat level part of something
- He beat on the door with the flat of his hand.
- the flat of a sword
- [countable, usually plural] an area of low flat land, especially near water
- salt flats
- These birds live on the coastal flats.
- mud and sand flats rich in animal life
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- coastal
- tidal
- mud
- …
- on the flat
- the flat, the Flat[singular] (British English) the season for racing horses on flat ground with no jumps
- [countable] a note played a semitone lower than the note that is named. The written symbol is (♭).
- There are no sharps or flats in the key of C major.
- [countable] (especially North American English) a tyre that has lost air, usually because of a hole
- We got a flat on the way home.
- We had to stop to fix a flat.
- [countable] (specialist) a vertical section of scenery used on a theatre stage
- flats(also flatties)[plural] (informal) shoes with a very low heel
- a pair of flats
rooms
level part
land
horse racing
in music
tyre
in theatre
shoes
Word Originnoun senses 2 to 8 Middle English: from Old Norse flatr. noun sense 1 early 19th cent. (denoting a floor or storey): alteration of obsolete flet ‘floor, dwelling’, of Germanic origin and related to flat ‘level’.
Idioms
See flat in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee flat in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishon the flat
- (British English) on level ground, without hills or jumps (= for example in horse racing)
- Overtaking the next cyclist on an Alpine climb is ten times harder than on the flat.
Check pronunciation:
flat