Definition

1. Noun:

   • The lower horizontal surface of a room or other structure: The part of a room that you walk on.
   • A level of a building: A storey.
   • The bottom surface of a natural space: The ground of a forest, the bed of a body of water, or the base of a cavity.
   • A large room where a specific activity happens: Especially a room for trading in an exchange or for debate in a legislature.
   • The right to speak in a formal assembly: The permission granted to a member to address the meeting.
   • A lower limit: A minimum level, as for prices or wages.

2. Verb:

   • To provide with a floor: To cover a surface with flooring material.
   • To knock down: To strike someone so they fall to the floor.
   • To surprise or confound completely: To astonish or nonplus someone, making them unable to respond.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The kitchen has a tiled floor. (The surface you walk on in the kitchen is made of tiles.)
  • Her office is on the fifth floor. (Her office is located on the fifth level of the building.)
  • Divers explored the ocean floor. (Divers investigated the bottom of the sea.)
  • The senator asked for permission to address the floor. (The senator requested the right to speak in the legislative chamber.)
  • The government set a floor for minimum wage. (The government established a lowest allowable limit for wages.)

• Verb:

  • They decided to floor the attic with hardwood. (They decided to cover the attic's surface with hardwood boards.)
  • The boxer floored his opponent with a powerful punch. (The boxer knocked his opponent down to the canvas.)
  • The difficult question completely floored the expert. (The challenging question utterly surprised and stumped the expert.)

Advanced Usage

• "to have the floor": To possess the right to speak in a formal debate or meeting.

  • The representative had the floor for ten minutes to present her argument.

• "to take the floor": To begin speaking in a formal assembly or to begin dancing.

  • After the introduction, the keynote speaker took the floor.

• "to cross the floor" (Politics): To change one's party allegiance, literally by moving to sit with a different party in a legislative chamber.

  • The MP shocked everyone when he crossed the floor to join the opposition.

Variants and Related Words

• Flooring (n): Material used to make a floor.

  • They chose marble flooring for the entrance hall.

• Floorboard (n): A long plank used in constructing a floor.

  • The old floorboards creaked with every step.

Synonyms

• Noun (surface): Ground, deck, pavement.
• Noun (level): Storey, level, deck.
• Verb (knock down): Deck, knock down, fell.
• Verb (surprise): Astonish, astound, stun, nonplus.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Floor it (informal): To press a vehicle's accelerator to the floor, i.e., to drive at full speed.
  • When the light turned green, he floored it and sped away.

Related Idioms

• Mop/wipe the floor with someone: To defeat someone decisively in a competition or argument.

  • The debate team mopped the floor with their opponents.

• Get in on the ground floor: To become involved in a project or enterprise at its very beginning.

  • Investors who got in on the ground floor saw huge returns.

Noun

1. a large room in a exchange where the trading is done
   • he is a floor trader
2. the legislative hall where members debate and vote and conduct other business
   • there was a motion from the floor
3. the parliamentary right to address an assembly
   • the chairman granted him the floor
4. the occupants of a floor
   • the whole floor complained about the lack of heat
5. the lower inside surface of any hollow structure
   • the floor of the pelvis
   • the floor of the cave
6. the bottom surface of any lake or other body of water
7. the ground on which people and animals move about
   • the fire spared the forest floor
8. a lower limit
   • the government established a wage floor
9. a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale
   • what level is the office on?
10. the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
    • they needed rugs to cover the bare floors
    • we spread our sleeping bags on the dry floor of the tent

Verb

1. knock down with force
   • He decked his opponent
2. surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off
   • I was floored when I heard that I was promoted