What does "floor" mean?

1. (surface you walk on) the flat surface that you walk on when you are inside a building. 2. (level of a building) one of the levels or storeys in a tall building. 3. (right to speak) the right to speak during a formal meeting or debate. 4. (minimum limit) the lowest possible level that a price or interest rate can reach. 5. (to surprise greatly) to surprise or shock someone so much that they do not know what to say. 6. (to accelerate a car) to push the gas pedal in a car all the way down to go very fast.

floor — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "I dropped my keys on the ground in the kitchen."?

No — say "I dropped my keys on the floor in the kitchen.". Use 'floor' for surfaces inside a building and 'ground' for surfaces outside.

Word

01surface you walk on

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. the flat surface that you walk on when you are inside a building.

n. the interior bottom surface of a room or building, providing a structural base for walking.

“The children were playing with their wooden blocks on the living room floor.”

“The architect specified polished concrete for the ground floor to create a seamless transition between the interior and the courtyard.”

Pitfall

I dropped my keys on the ground in the kitchen.

I dropped my keys on the floor in the kitchen.

Use 'floor' for surfaces inside a building and 'ground' for surfaces outside.

Synonyms

ground deck

Antonyms

ceiling

02level of a building

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. one of the levels or storeys in a tall building.

n. a horizontal division or storey within a building.

“Our office is located on the third floor of the building.”

“The penthouse occupies the entire top floor, offering panoramic views of the city's historic district.”

Synonyms

level storey story

03right to speak

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Formal

n. the right to speak during a formal meeting or debate.

n. the formal right to address an assembly or parliament at a given time.

“The chairman gave the floor to the youngest member of the committee.”

“Once the minister yielded the floor, several opposition members rose simultaneously to challenge the proposed budget cuts.”

Synonyms

turnspeaking rights

04minimum limit

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Finance Technical

n. the lowest possible level that a price or interest rate can reach.

n. a lower limit or minimum threshold applied to prices, wages, or interest rates.

“The government set a price floor for milk to help local farmers.”

“The contract includes an interest rate floor to protect the lender against a sudden drop in market volatility.”

Synonyms

minimum base

Antonyms

ceiling cap

05to surprise greatly

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

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

v. to overwhelm or disconcert someone completely; to leave someone speechless with surprise.

“The news of her sudden promotion completely floored me.”

“The sheer audacity of the proposal floored the board of directors, leaving them in stunned silence for several minutes.”

Synonyms

stun amaze shock

06to accelerate a car

C1 · Advanced Informal · American English

v. to push the gas pedal in a car all the way down to go very fast.

v. to depress an accelerator pedal to its maximum limit.

“As soon as the light turned green, he floored it and sped away.”

“Realising he was late for the final boarding call, he floored the accelerator as soon as he hit the open highway.”

Synonyms

accelerate speed

Antonyms

brake

Inherited from Middle English flor, flore, from Old English flōr (“floor, pavement, ground, bottom”), from Proto-West Germanic flōr, from Proto-Germanic flōraz (“flat surface, floor, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European pleh₂ros (“floor”), from Proto-Indo-European pleh₂- (“flat”). Cognate with Scots flair, fluir (“floor”), Saterland Frisian Floor (“floor”), West Frisian flier (“floor”), Dutch vloer (“floor”), German Flur (“field, floor, entrance hall”), German Low German Floor (“entry hall”), Luxembourgish Flouer (“countryside, farmland”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish flor (“floor of a cow stall”), Irish urlár (“floor”), Scottish Gaelic làr (“floor, ground, earth”), Welsh llawr (“floor, ground”), Latin plānus (“level, flat”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

NOUN

floor(A1)

seafloor(B2)

ground mezzanine on the floor top