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.
Please flatten the dough.
To crush flat by pressing. Often used for cans, boxes, or soft objects.
I flattened the empty can.
Colloquial phrase meaning 'to squash flat'. Implies something is completely flattened.
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.
I flattened the ground before sowing seeds.
Also used for leveling surfaces, but more general than ならす.
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.
He was flattened by the news.
To overwhelm or overpower. Can be used in competitions or arguments.
We flattened the opposing team.
Colloquial phrase meaning 'to beat someone flat'. Very informal.
I'll flatten him.
To completely destroy a building or structure so it becomes flat.
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.
Flatten the JSON data.
Formal term meaning 'to flatten' or 'to level'. Used in mathematics and data processing.
A function that flattens a list.
To standardize or level out. Used in economics or organizational restructuring.
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.
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.
We need to flatten this land.
麺棒で生地を伸ばす。
Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.
The typhoon flattened houses.
The town was flattened by bombing.
Flatten the organizational hierarchy.