What does flatways mean?
Flatways is an adverb describing the orientation of an object placed or lying in a flat position, with its broadest surface facing down or out. A speaker might instruct someone to lay tiles flatways, stack photographs flatways so they do not bend, or plane a board flatways before use. The word belongs to a small English family of positional adverbs formed with the suffix '-ways', alongside sideways (to one side), edgeways (on its edge), lengthways (along its length), and crossways (across). These formations capture orientation economically, describing how an object sits relative to its own shape. Flatways is uncommon today and appears mostly in craft, technical, or older descriptive writing; in ordinary speech people simply say 'lay it flat'. Its near-equivalent 'flatwise' survives more readily in engineering vocabulary, making flatways a charming but largely historical member of its family.
adverbFlatways means in a flat position or orientation — so that something lies or is placed with its broadest surface down. It is chiefly used to describe how an object is laid, set, or struck.
- In a flat position; with the broadest surface of something facing downward or outward.
"He laid the tiles flatways across the floor so the widest face rested on the mortar."
"Place the photographs flatways in the box so they do not bend."
"The carpenter planed the board flatways before fitting it into the frame."
Flatways belongs to a quirky family of '-ways' adverbs — like sideways and edgeways — that describe position using nothing but an object's own shape.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flatways
Flatways is formed from the Old English-derived adjective 'flat', meaning smooth and level, combined with the suffix '-ways', which builds adverbs of direction or position. The '-ways' suffix has produced a distinctive group of English words including sideways, edgeways, lengthways, and crossways, most attested from around the sixteenth century onward. Flatways shares this pattern with its sibling forms and stands as a cognate construction within the same Germanic word-building tradition rather than a borrowing from another language.
Related word forms
How flatways is actually used
Flatways is a rare word, encountered mainly in technical, craft, or older descriptive writing. The variant form 'flatwise' is more common in modern engineering contexts, while 'flat' itself usually suffices in everyday speech.
Easily confused with flatways
Edgeways means positioned on its edge rather than on its broad flat surface, the direct opposite of flatways.