floor
floor [floor floors floored flooring] noun, verb [flɔː(r)] [flɔːr]
noun
OF ROOM
1. countable, usually singular the surface of a room that you walk on
• a wooden/concrete/marble, etc. floor
• ceramic floor tiles
• The body was lying on the kitchen floor.
• The furniture and floor coverings date from the 1920s.
• The alterations should give us extra floor space.
OF VEHICLE
2. (NAmE also floor·board) countable, usually singular the bottom surface of a vehicle
• The floor of the car was covered in cigarette ends.
LEVEL OF BUILDING
3. countable all the rooms that are on the same level of a building
• Her office is on the second floor.
• the Irish guy who lives two floors above
• There is a lift to all floors.
• Their house is on three floors (= it has three floors).
see also ground floor
OF THE SEA/FORESTS
4. countable, usually singular the ground at the bottom of the sea, a forest, etc
• the ocean/valley/cave/forest floor
IN PARLIAMENT, ETC.
5. the floor singular the part of a building where discussions or debates are held, especially in a parliament; the people who attend a discussion or debate
• Opposition politicians registered their protest on the floor of the House.
• We will now take any questions from the floor.
AREA FOR WORK
6. countable, usually singular an area in a building that is used for a particular activity
• on the floor of the Stock Exchange (= where trading takes place)
see also dance floor, factory floor, shop floor
FOR WAGES/PRICES
7. countable, usually singular the lowest level allowed for wages or prices
• Prices have gone through the floor (= fallen to a very low level).
compare ceiling (2)
more at be/get in on the ground floor at ground floor
Word Origin:
Old English flōr, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vloer and German Flur.
Thesaurus:
floor noun
1. C, usually sing.
• She sat on the floor and watched TV.
ground • • earth •
Opp: ceiling
on/under the floor/ground/earth
drop/fall to (the) floor/ground/earth
reach/hit (the) floor/ground
2. C
• an office on the third floor
level • • deck • |especially BrE storey • |AmE usually story •
on the top, etc. floor/level/deck/storey
the top/upper/lower floor/level/deck/storey
the main floor/deck
Floor or storey? Use floor to talk about which level of a building sb lives/works on; use storey to talk about how many floors a building has
• His office is on the fifth floor.
• a five-storey house
British/American:
floor
In BrE the floor of a building at street level is the ground floor, the one above it is the first floor and the one below it is the basement, or lower ground floor in a public building.
In NAmE the floor at street level is usually called the first floor, the one above it is the second floor and the one below it is the basement. In public buildings the floor at street level can also be called the ground floor.
note at storey
Synonyms:
floor
ground • land • earth
These are all words for the surface that you walk on.
floor • the surface of a room that you walk on: ▪ She was sitting on the floor watching TV.
ground • (often the ground) the solid surface of the earth that you walk on: ▪ I found her lying on the ground. ◊ ▪ The rocket crashed a few seconds after it ▪ left the ground ▪.
land • the surface of the earth that is not sea: ▪ It was good to be back on ▪ dry land ▪ again. ◊ ▪ They fought both at sea and ▪ on land ▪.
earth • (often the earth) the solid surface of the world that is made of rock, soil, sand, etc: ▪ You could feel the earth shake as the truck came closer.
ground, land or earth?
Ground is the normal word for the solid surface that you walk on when you are not in a building or vehicle. You can use earth if you want to draw attention to the rock, soil etc. that the ground is made of. Land is only used when you want to contrast it with the sea: the land beneath our feet ◊ feel the land shake ◊ sight ground/earth ◊ travel by ground/earth
on/under the floor/ground/earth
bare floor/ground/earth
to drop/fall to the floor/the ground/(the) earth
to reach the floor/the ground/land
Which Word?:
storey / floor
You use storey (BrE)/story (NAmE) mainly when you are talking about the number of levels a building has: ▪ a five-storey house ◊ ▪ The office building is five storeys high.
Floor is used mainly to talk about which particular level in the building someone lives on, goes to, etc: ▪ His office is on the fifth floor.
note at floor
Example Bank:
• Do you mind sitting on the floor?
• His glass fell to the floor and broke.
• I can't sleep on the bare floor!
• The offices occupy the top floor of the building.
• a cafe on the mezzanine floor
• Her office is on the second floor.
• His footsteps echoed on the wooden floor.
• She was sitting on the floor watching TV.
• The bathroom floor was flooded with water.
• The vase fell to the floor with a crash.
• Their house is on three floors.
• There is a lift/an elevator to all floors.
• There were wooden panels from floor to ceiling.
• There's not really enough floor space in here.
• to clean/wash/sweep the floor
Idioms: get have the floor ▪ hold the floor ▪ mop the floor with somebody ▪ take the floor
