flatten

James C. Scott called this legibility, the way institutions flatten complicated people into categories they can manage.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

The researchers found that rift flanks begin to flatten relatively quickly once tectonic movement ends.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

Although long-term agreements from memory companies and a redesign of AI chips to address memory constraints “could flatten the amplitude of the cycle,” Moore said those factors should increase the duration of the memory boom.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

River can be a good thing, social media algorithms can flatten the context around the waterway, particularly when it comes to demographic changes in nearby neighborhoods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

It took some strength at first to get the huge ball to flatten out, but then it was just a matter of rolling it over and over until it was flat enough.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

A hot-strip mill flattens thick slabs of heated steel into long, thin ribbons of sheet steel that are wound into coils and shipped to customers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

Like VIX, it is not as bullish as it could be: The term structure of the VIX futures rises in the front end of the curve but then flattens out.

From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026

Over and over again, this documentary makes the point that the screen flattens people’s full humanity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025

Beijing will need to organise a stimulus package to account for the loss of whole percentage points of GDP, the kind of thing that happens when a natural disaster flattens a major city.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025

She takes a piece of crumpled paper from her pocket and flattens it against her left palm.

From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth

So I sliced the kielbasa into coins, cut up one red pepper and one medium onion, tucked the whole thing into a reusable freezer bag and flattened it out.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

To build an airport, the Navy flattened a mountain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

After she finally sought treatment, she wrote, the medication she was prescribed flattened her — in one instance she fell asleep for hours on the set of “Nashville.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Pictures at the Lewes derailment have shown how the force of the train leaving the tracks had flattened trees and left a piece of track strewn across the embankment.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

On the bright side, assuming there was a bottom, Annabeth and Percy would probably be flattened on impact, so giant spiders were the least of their worries.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

DeChambeau was given a two-shot penalty on Friday after tournament officials ruled he had improved the area of his backswing by flattening down some long grass on Royal Birkdale's fifth hole.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

The bond market is not going to take any of this lightly, either, and the clearest sign of this would be a continued flattening of the yield curve.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

Critics of the change say this risks flattening meaningful distinctions between religious identities, particularly for service members whose beliefs do not fall neatly into major denominational groupings.

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

A reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would likely lead to a steepening of sovereign curves, whereas a renewed escalation could trigger more flattening, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

I’m flattening it out with my fist, thinking about all the dope places Mateo and I have been together, when I spot a Luigi hat on the floor between his dresser and bed.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera