flatlined

Everyday

1. (medical slang, euphemism) died; the heart stopped, so the line on the heart monitor became flat. tree →
2. (business, informal) stopped growing or changing; stayed at the same level: «sales have flatlined». tree →
3. (informal) became very tired or lost all energy. tree →

In the lessons

From hospital dramas and medical slang; used in news and business talk for things that stop growing; also jokingly about people being exhausted. Informal and jargon, all regions.

Examples

• The patient flatlined, but the doctors brought him back. tree →
• In the TV drama, the heart monitor beeped and the man flatlined. tree →
• Sales of the toy flatlined after Christmas. tree →
• Our class's reading scores have flatlined this term. tree →
• After the cross-country race, I totally flatlined on the sofa. tree →
• The graph flatlined at 200 visitors a day. tree →
• The phone battery flatlined halfway through the film. tree →
• The company's profits have flatlined for three years. tree →

Note

Trap: in a hospital it means the heart stopped (death or near death); in business it means no growth. On a graph, a flat line means the number stays the same: no increase, no decrease.