Translation guide
How to express 'flatten' in Japanese, covering physical flattening, leveling surfaces, figurative crushing, and technical flattening of data.
To press something so it becomes flat, like flattening dough or crushing a can.
General phrase meaning 'to make flat'. Used for flattening surfaces or objects.
生地を平らにしてください。
Please flatten the dough.
To crush flat by pressing. Often used for cans, boxes, or soft objects.
空き缶を押しつぶした。
I flattened the empty can.
Colloquial phrase meaning 'to squash flat'. Implies something is completely flattened.
帽子がぺちゃんこになった。
My hat got flattened.
To make a surface even, like flattening land or smoothing wrinkles.
To level or smooth out a surface. Used for ground, soil, or wrinkles.
地面をならしてから種をまいた。
I flattened the ground before sowing seeds.
Also used for leveling surfaces, but more general than ならす.
この土地を平らにしなければならない。
We need to flatten this land.
To stretch or roll out flat, like flattening dough with a rolling pin.
To defeat someone decisively or to make someone feel crushed.
To beat someone down, physically or emotionally. Figuratively means to devastate.
その知らせに彼は打ちのめされた。
He was flattened by the news.
To overwhelm or overpower. Can be used in competitions or arguments.
相手チームを圧倒した。
We flattened the opposing team.
Colloquial phrase meaning 'to beat someone flat'. Very informal.
彼をぺちゃんこにやっつけてやる。
I'll flatten him.
To completely destroy a building or structure so it becomes flat.
To cause to collapse. Used for buildings or structures.
地震がその建物を倒壊させた。
The earthquake flattened the building.
To mow down or knock flat. Often used for trees or structures in a violent manner.
台風が家々をなぎ倒した。
The typhoon flattened houses.
Can also mean to raze to the ground.
その町は爆撃で平らにされた。
The town was flattened by bombing.
To convert a nested structure into a flat list or to reduce organizational layers.
Loanword from English 'flat' plus 化 (to make). Common in IT and business contexts.
JSONデータをフラット化する。
Flatten the JSON data.
Formal term meaning 'to flatten' or 'to level'. Used in mathematics and data processing.
リストを平坦化する関数。
A function that flattens a list.
To standardize or level out. Used in economics or organizational restructuring.
組織の階層を平準化する。
Flatten the organizational hierarchy.
While 平らにする can be used for physical flattening, it is not natural for figurative meanings like 'flatten the competition'. Use 圧倒する or 打ちのめす instead.
彼は競争相手を圧倒した。
He flattened the competition.
ならす specifically means to level or smooth out a surface (like soil or wrinkles), while 平らにする is more general 'make flat'. Use ならす for careful leveling actions.
Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.