bass

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.Of little, or less than the usual, height; of low growth; as, base shrubs. [Archaic] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2.Low in place or position. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3.Of humble birth; or low degree; lowly; mean. [Archaic] "A peasant and base swain." --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

4.Illegitimate by birth; bastard. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]

Why bastard? wherefore base?— Shak.[1913 Webster]

5.Of little comparative value, as metal inferior to gold and silver, the precious metals. [1913 Webster]

6.Alloyed with inferior metal; debased; as, base coin; base bullion. [1913 Webster]

7.Morally low. Hence: Low-minded; unworthy; without dignity of sentiment; ignoble; mean; illiberal; menial; as, a base fellow; base motives; base occupations. "A cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind." --Robynson (More's Utopia). "Base ingratitude." --Milton. [1913 Webster]

8.Not classical or correct. "Base Latin." --Fuller. [1913 Webster]

9.Deep or grave in sound; as, the base tone of a violin. [In this sense, commonly written bass.] [1913 Webster]

10.(Law) Not held by honorable service; as, a base estate, one held by services not honorable; held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant, a base tenant. [1913 Webster]

Base fee, formerly, an estate held at the will of the lord; now, a qualified fee. See note under Fee, n., 4.

Base metal. See under Metal. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Dishonorable; worthless; ignoble; low-minded; infamous; sordid; degraded.

Usage: Base, Vile, Mean. These words, as expressing moral qualities, are here arranged in the order of their strength, the strongest being placed first. Base marks a high degree of moral turpitude; vile and mean denote, in different degrees, the lack of what is valuable or worthy of esteem. What is base excites our abhorrence; what is vile provokes our disgust or indignation; what is mean awakens contempt. Base is opposed to high-minded; vile, to noble; mean, to liberal or generous. Ingratitude is base; sycophancy is vile; undue compliances are mean. [1913 Webster]

1.The bottom of anything, considered as its support, or that on which something rests for support; the foundation; as, the base of a statue. "The base of mighty mountains." --Prescott. [1913 Webster]

2.Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the essential principle; a groundwork. [1913 Webster]

3.(Arch.) (a) The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when treated as a separate feature, usually in projection, or especially ornamented. (b) The lower part of a complete architectural design, as of a monument; also, the lower part of any elaborate piece of furniture or decoration. [1913 Webster]

4.(Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support. [1913 Webster]

5.(Chem.) The positive, or non-acid component of a salt; a substance which, combined with an acid, neutralizes the latter and forms a salt; -- applied also to the hydroxides of the positive elements or radicals, and to certain organic bodies resembling them in their property of forming salts with acids. [1913 Webster]

6.(Pharmacy) The chief ingredient in a compound. [1913 Webster]

7.(Dyeing) A substance used as a mordant. --Ure. [1913 Webster]

8.(Fort.) The exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angles of two adjacent bastions. [1913 Webster]

9.(Geom.) The line or surface constituting that part of a figure on which it is supposed to stand. [1913 Webster]

10.(Math.) The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of logarithms. [1913 Webster]

11.[See Base low.] A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.) (a) The lowest part; the deepest male voice. (b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base. [Now commonly written bass.] [1913 Webster]

The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

12.(Mil.) A place or tract of country, protected by fortifications, or by natural advantages, from which the operations of an army proceed, forward movements are made, supplies are furnished, etc. [1913 Webster]

13.(Mil.) The smallest kind of cannon. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

14.(Zool.) That part of an organ by which it is attached to another more central organ. [1913 Webster]

15.(Crystallog.) The basal plane of a crystal. [1913 Webster]

16.(Geol.) The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline. [1913 Webster]

17.(Her.) The lower part of the field. See Escutcheon. [1913 Webster]

18.The housing of a horse. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

19.pl. A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mailed armor) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

20.The lower part of a robe or petticoat. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

21.An apron. [Obs.] "Bakers in their linen bases." --Marston. [1913 Webster]

22.The point or line from which a start is made; a starting place or a goal in various games. [1913 Webster]

To their appointed base they went.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

23.(Surv.) A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a system of triangles. --Lyman. [1913 Webster]

24.A rustic play; -- called also prisoner's base, prison base, or bars. "To run the country base." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

25.(Baseball) Any one of the four bounds which mark the circuit of the infield. [1913 Webster]

Altern base. See under Altern.

Attic base. (Arch.) See under Attic.

Base course. (Arch.) (a) The first or lower course of a foundation wall, made of large stones or a mass of concrete; -- called also foundation course. (b) The architectural member forming the transition between the basement and the wall above.

Base hit (Baseball), a hit, by which the batsman, without any error on the part of his opponents, is able to reach the first base without being put out.

Base line. (a) A main line taken as a base, as in surveying or in military operations. (b) A line traced round a cannon at the rear of the vent.

Base plate, the foundation plate of heavy machinery, as of the steam engine; the bed plate.

Base ring (Ordnance), a projecting band of metal around the breech, connected with the body of the gun by a concave molding. --H. L. Scott. [1913 Webster]

1.(Bot.) The linden or lime tree, sometimes wrongly called whitewood; also, its bark, which is used for making mats. See Bast. [1913 Webster]

2.(Pron. ?) A hassock or thick mat. [1913 Webster]

1.A bass, or deep, sound or tone. [1913 Webster]

2.(Mus.) (a) The lowest part in a musical composition. (b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, bass. [Written also base.] [1913 Webster]

Thorough bass. See Thorough bass. [1913 Webster]

Bass clef (Mus.), the character placed at the beginning of the staff containing the bass part of a musical composition. [See Illust. under Clef.]

Bass voice, a deep-sounding voice; a voice fitted for singing bass. [1913 Webster]

1.An edible, spiny-finned fish, esp. of the genera Roccus, Labrax, and related genera. There are many species. [1913 Webster]

Note: The common European bass is Labrax lupus. American species are: the striped bass (Roccus lineatus); white or silver bass of the lakes (Roccus chrysops); brass or yellow bass (Roccus interruptus). [1913 Webster]

2.The two American fresh-water species of black bass (genus Micropterus). See Black bass. [1913 Webster]

3.Species of Serranus, the sea bass and rock bass. See Sea bass. [1913 Webster]

4.The southern, red, or channel bass (Sci[ae]na ocellata). See Redfish. [1913 Webster]

Note: The name is also applied to many other fishes. See Calico bass, under Calico. [1913 Webster]