floor

floor¹ W1S1 [flo: US flo:r] n

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1¦(in a building)¦

2¦(in a car)¦

3¦(level in building)¦

4¦(ocean/forest/cave floor etc)¦

5¦(for dancing)¦

6¦(where people work)¦

7¦(limit)¦

8 the floor

9 take the floor

10 have the floor

11 go through the floor

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[: Old English; Origin: flor]

1.) ¦(IN A BUILDING)¦

the flat surface that you stand on inside a building

▪ a polished wooden floor

▪ There was a puddle of water on the kitchen floor.

▪ a warehouse that has 410,000 square feet of floor space

see usage note ↑ground¹

2.) ¦(IN A CAR)¦

BrE the part of a car that forms its inside floor

American Equivalent: floorboard

3.) ¦(LEVEL IN BUILDING)¦

one of the levels in a building

▪ a ground floor flat

on the top/first/tenth etc floor

▪ Our office is on the top floor.

floor of

▪ We are located on the seventh floor of the building.

see usage note ↑storey

4.) ¦(OCEAN/FOREST/CAVE FLOOR ETC)¦

the ground at the bottom of the ocean, the forest etc

▪ creatures that live on the ocean floor

see usage note ↑ground¹

5.) ¦(FOR DANCING)¦

an area in a room where people can dance

▪ There were two or three couples already on the dance floor .

take (to) the floor

(=begin dancing)

▪ Everyone took to the floor for the last waltz.

6.) ¦(WHERE PEOPLE WORK)¦

a large area in a building where a lot of people do their jobs

▪ The stock market floor was wildly busy.

▪ He wasn't keen on the idea of working on the shop floor (=the part of a factory where people make things using machines) .

7.) ¦(LIMIT)¦

an officially agreed limit below which something cannot go

→↑ceiling

▪ Manufacturers have tried to put a floor under the price of their products.

8.) the floor

a) the people attending a public meeting

▪ Are there any questions from the floor?

b) the part of a parliament, public meeting place etc where people sit

▪ The delegates crowded the floor of the House.

9.) take the floor

to begin speaking at an important public meeting

▪ The chairman then took the floor.

10.) have the floor

to be speaking or have the right to speak at an important public meeting

▪ He stepped aside to allow other speakers to have the floor.

11.) go through the floor

if a price, amount etc goes through the floor, it becomes very low

≠ ↑go through the roof

▪ In the past few years share prices have gone through the floor.

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US/UK DIFFERENCE

The bottom area of a building, on the same level as the land around it, is called the ground floor . In American English this can also be called the first floor .

In British English the first floor is one level up from the ground. In American English this is the second floor .

floor or storey/story ? See note at STOREY

GRAMMAR

!! Say on the first/second/fifth etc floor : The cafeteria is on (NOT at/in) the top floor.

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floor ²

floor² v [T]

1.) to surprise or shock someone so much that they do not know what to say or do

▪ A couple of the questions completely floored me.

2.) to hit someone so hard that they fall down

▪ He was floored in the first round of the fight.

3.) AmE informal to make a car go as fast as possible

▪ I got into the car and floored it .