Flat-footed

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Flat-footed \Flat"-foot`ed\, a.
     1. Having a flat foot, with little or no arch of the instep;
        suffering from fallen arches. [WordNet sense 3]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Firm-footed; determined. [Slang, U.S.]


        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. clumsy; amateurish; pedestrian; unimaginative; plodding;
        as, flatfooted prose.
        [PJC]
  
     4. Without reservation; without evasion or compromise; firm;
        as, a flat-footed refusal; a flatfooted denial. [WordNet
        sense 4]
  
     Syn: downright, forthright, foursquare, head-on,
          straightforward.
          [PJC]
  
     5. With feet flat on the ground; not tiptoe. [WordNet sense
        1]
        [WordNet 1.5]
  
     6. Unprepared and unable to react quickly; as, the new
        product caught their competitors flat-footed. [WordNet
        sense 2]
  
     Syn: unready.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     {To catch (one) flatfooted} to catch (a person) unprepared;
        to catch (a person) by surprise.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  flat-footed
       adj 1: with feet flat on the ground; not tiptoe
       2: unprepared and unable to react quickly; "the new product
          caught their competitors flat-footed"
       3: having broad flat feet that usually turn outward; "a slow
          flat-footed walk"
       4: without reservation; "a flat-footed refusal"