to fall flat on the floor
- phrasal verb
:
caer de bruces
- Jim on the monitors, singing through to his freedom, falls flat on the floor, the camera missing him completely.
Examples
-
As she reached for the toy, she stumbled and fell flat on the floor with a thud.
-
While showing off my dance moves, I lost my balance and fell flat on the floor.
-
He slipped on the wet surface and fell flat on the floor, landing face down.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Move or drop down from a higher to a lower place
250
1.0
Suddenly move from a standing position to the ground or a lower level
93
4.1
To fall over or make something fall over, often suddenly when it loses balance
67
1.0
To lose your balance or stop being steady and end up on the ground
64
3.6
Touch the ground after falling or being dropped
55
4.0
To sit down or fall forward suddenly and heavily
34
1.8
To fall from a higher place to a lower place
26
2.3
To fall or sit down heavily and suddenly because you are tired
22
3.9
Suddenly fall down because something is weak or hit hard
16
5.7
Fall down suddenly because you faint or feel very weak
7
5.4
To fall suddenly, for example by tripping or by losing value
3
4.6
To fall onto the ground with great force and possibly get hurt
To fall or put something down heavily so it makes a dull sound
To sit or fall down suddenly and heavily, often because you are tired
Antonyms
How Hard
71
2.4
85
1.4
250
1.0
129
1.6
49
4.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
fall + flat + on + the + floor
Each constituent contributes a literal meaning: 'fall' (drop), 'flat' (lying level/face down or outstretched), and 'on the floor' (location), so the overall sense of suddenly ending up lying flat on the floor is directly derivable. This is a straightforward compositional pattern (not an idiom like 'fall flat' = 'fail'), and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words would understand it.
Etymology
Fall flat on the floor gives a simple picture: someone trips or slips and falls so their body lies flat on the floor, often face down or stretched out. That's why it means 'to suddenly and completely fall' and be lying on the ground.