take the floor

noun

1. that part of a room, hallway, or the like, that forms its lower enclosing surface and upon which one walks.
2. a continuous, supporting surface extending horizontally throughout a building, having a number of rooms, apartments, or the like, and constituting one level or stage in the structure; story.
3. a level, supporting surface in any structure: the elevator floor.
4. one of two or more layers of material composing a floor: rough floor; finish floor.
5. a platform or prepared level area for a particular use: a threshing floor.
6. the bottom of any more or less hollow place: the floor of a tunnel.
7. a more or less flat extent of surface: the floor of the ocean.
8. the part of a legislative chamber, meeting room, etc., where the members sit, and from which they speak.
9. the right of one member to speak from such a place in preference to other members: The senator from Alaska has the floor.
10. the area of a floor, as in a factory or retail store, where items are actually made or sold, as opposed to offices, supply areas, etc.: There are only two salesclerks on the floor.
11. the main part of a stock or commodity exchange or the like, as distinguished from the galleries, platform, etc.
12. the bottom, base, or minimum charged, demanded, or paid: The government avoided establishing a price or wage floor.
13. Mining. an underlying stratum, as of ore, usually flat.
14. Nautical.
    1. the bottom of a hull.
    2. any of a number of deep, transverse framing members at the bottom of a steel or iron hull, generally interrupted by and joined to any vertical keel or keelsons.
    3. the lowermost member of a frame in a wooden vessel.

verb (used with object)

15. to cover or furnish with a floor.
16. to bring down to the floor or ground; knock down: He floored his opponent with one blow.
17. to overwhelm; defeat.
18. to confound or puzzle; nonplus: I was floored by the problem.
19. Also floorboard. to push (a foot-operated accelerator pedal) all the way down to the floor of a vehicle, for maximum speed or power.

Idioms

20. mop/wipe the floor with, Informal. to overwhelm completely; defeat: He expected to mop the floor with his opponents.
21. take the floor, to arise to address a meeting.

noun

1. Also called: flooring the inner lower surface of a room
2. a storey of a buildingthe second floor
3. a flat bottom surface in or on any structurethe floor of a lift; a dance floor
4. the bottom surface of a tunnel, cave, river, sea, etc
5. mining an underlying stratum
6. nautical the bottom, or the lowermost framing members at the bottom, of a vessel
7. that part of a legislative hall in which debate and other business is conducted
8. the right to speak in a legislative or deliberative body (esp in the phrases get, have, or be given the floor)
9. the room in a stock exchange where trading takes place
10. the earth; ground
11. a minimum price charged or paida wage floor
12. take the floor to begin dancing on a dance floor

verb

13. to cover with or construct a floor
14. (tr) to knock to the floor or ground
15. (tr) informal to disconcert, confound, or defeatto be floored by a problem

v.early 15c., “to furnish with a floor,” from floor (n.). Sense of “puzzle, confound” is 1830, from notion of “knock down to the floor” (1640s). Related: Floored; flooring. n.Old English flor “floor, pavement, ground, bottom (of a lake, etc.),” from Proto-Germanic *floruz “floor” (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch vloer, Old Norse flor “floor,” Middle High German vluor, German Flur “field, meadow”), from PIE *plaros “flat surface” (cf. Welsh llawr “ground”), enlarged from *pele- (2) “flat, to spread” (see plane (n.1)). Meaning “level of a house” is from 1580s. The figurative sense in legislative assemblies (as opposed to the platform) is first recorded 1774. Spanish suelo “floor” is from Latin solum “bottom, ground, soil;” German Boden is cognate with English bottom. Floor plan attested from 1867. Rise to speak formally to an assembled group, as in After that long introduction, the treasurer took the floor. This idiom uses floor in the sense of “right to speak,” in turn derived from its meaning as the part of the legislature from which members address the group. [c. 1800] see ground floor; mop up the floor with; sink through the floor; take the floor; walk the floor.