floor (redirected from taking the floor)

floor

Rigid building assembly that divides space horizontally into stories. It forms the bottom of a room. It may consist of joist-supported wood planks or panels, decking or panels supported by wood or steel beams, a slab of stone or concrete on the ground, or a reinforced-concrete slab carried by concrete beams and columns. The floor assembly must support its own dead load plus the live load of occupants, activities, and furnishings. The horizontal supports beneath its top surface—and the vertical supports into which they frame—must be sufficiently large and spaced closely enough to prevent sagging of the assembly.

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floor

1. a flat bottom surface in or on any structure

2. Nautical the bottom, or the lowermost framing members at the bottom, of a vessel

3. Politics that part of a legislative hall in which debate and other business is conducted

4. Politics the right to speak in a legislative or deliberative body (esp in the phrases get, have, or be given the floor)

5. a minimum price charged or paid

6. take the floor to begin dancing on a dance floor