# flatten

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈflæ.tən/ · frequency rank #29,657

## Definitions
1. To make something flat or flatter.
2. To press one's body tightly against a surface, such as a wall or floor, especially in order to avoid being seen or harmed.
3. To knock down or lay low.
4. To become flat or flatter; to plateau.
5. To be knocked down or laid low.
6. To lower by a semitone.
7. To make vapid or insipid; to render stale.
8. To reduce (a data structure) to one that has fewer dimensions, e.g. a 2×2 array into a list of four elements.
9. To combine (separate layers) into a single image.

## Etymology
From flat + -en.

## Easily confused with
- **flatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flatten-vs-flatter)
- **flutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flatten-vs-flutter)
- **flattery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flatten-vs-flattery)
- **flattened** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flatten-vs-flattened)
- **fatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fatter-vs-flatten)
- **fasten** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fasten-vs-flatten)
- **flatbed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flatbed-vs-flatten)

## Common misspellings (9)
`faltten`, `fflatten`, `flaten`, `flatetn`, `flattenn`, `flattne`, `fllatten`, `fltaten`, `lfatten`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flatten