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more about base
base |
8 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bass \Bass\, n. [F. basse, fr bas low See {Base}, a.] 1. A bass, or deep, sound or tone. 2. (Mus.) a The lowest part in a musical composition. b One who sings, or the instrument which plays, bass. [Written also {base}.] {Thorough bass}. See {Thorough bass}. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Base \Base\ (b[=a]s), a. [OE. bass, F. bas, low fr LL bassus thick, fat, short, humble; cf L. Bassus, a proper name and W. bas shallow. Cf {Bass} a part in music.] 1. Of little, or less than the usual, height; of low growth; as base shrubs. [Archaic] --Shak. 2. Low in place or position. [Obs.] --Shak. 3. Of humble birth; or low degree; lowly; mean [Archaic] ``A pleasant and base swain.'' --Bacon. 4. Illegitimate by birth; bastard. [Archaic] Why bastard? wherefore base? --Shak. 5. Of little comparative value, as metal inferior to gold and silver, the precious metals. 6. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased; as base coin; base bullion. 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. 8. Not classical or correct. ``Base Latin.'' --Fuller. 9. Deep or grave in sound; as the base tone of a violin. [In this sense commonly written {bass.}] 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. {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}. 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 want 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 From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Base \Base\, n. [F. base, L. basis, fr Gr ? a stepping step, a base, pedestal, fr ? to go step, akin to E. come Cf {Basis}, and see {Come}.] 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. 2. Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing the essential principle; a groundwork. 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. 4. (Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Base \Base\, v. t. [See {Base}, a., and cf {Abase}.] 1. To abase; to let or cast, down to lower. [Obs.] If any . . . based his pike. --Sir T. North. 2. To reduce the value of to debase. [Obs.] Metals which we can not base. --Bacon. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Base \Base\ (b[=a]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Based} (b[=a]sd); p. pr & vb n. {Basing}.] [From {Base}, n.] To put on a base or basis; to lay the foundation of to found as an argument or conclusion; -- used with on or upon --Bacon. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Ground \Ground\ (ground), n. [OE. ground, grund, AS grund; akin to D. grond, OS., G., Sw., & Dan. grund, Icel. grunnr bottom, Goth. grundus (in composition); perh. orig. meaning, dust, gravel, and if so perh. akin to E. grind.] 1. The surface of the earth; the outer crust of the globe, or some indefinite portion of it There was not a man to till the ground. --Gen. ii 5. The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix 23. Hence: A floor or pavement supposed to rest upon the earth. 2. Any definite portion of the earth's surface; region; territory; country. Hence: A territory appropriated to or resorted to for a particular purpose; the field or place of action as a hunting or fishing ground; a play ground. From . . . old Euphrates, to the brook that parts Egypt from Syrian ground. --Milton. 3. Land; estate; possession; field; esp. (pl.), the gardens, lawns, fields, etc., belonging to a homestead; as the grounds of the estate are well kept. Thy next design is on thy neighbor's grounds. --Dryden. 4. 4. The basis on which anything rests; foundation. Hence: The foundation of knowledge, belief, or conviction; a premise, reason, or datum; ultimate or first principle; cause of existence or occurrence; originating force or agency; as the ground of my hope. 5. (Paint. & Decorative Art) a That surface upon which the figures of a composition are set and which relieves them by its plainness, being either of one tint or of tints but slightly contrasted with one another; as crimson Bowers on a white ground. See {Background}, {Foreground}, and {Middle-ground}. b In sculpture, a flat surface upon which figures are raised in relief. c In point lace, the net of small meshes upon which the embroidered pattern is applied; as Brussels ground. See {Brussels lace}, under {Brussels}. 6. (Etching) A gummy composition spread over the surface of a metal to be etched, to prevent the acid from eating except where an opening is made by the needle. 7. (Arch.) One of the pieces of wood, flush with the plastering, to which moldings, etc., are attached; -- usually in the plural. Note: Grounds are usually put up first and the plastering floated flush with them 8. (Mus.) a A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody. b The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song. --Moore (Encyc.). On that ground I'll build a holy descant. --Shak. 9. (Elec.) A conducting connection with the earth, whereby the earth is made part of an electrical circuit. 10. pl Sediment at the bottom of liquors or liquids; dregs; lees; feces; as coffee grounds. 11. The pit of a theater. [Obs.] --B. Jonson {Ground angling}, angling with a weighted line without a float. {Ground annual} (Scots Law), an estate created in land by a vassal who instead of selling his land outright reserves an annual ground rent, which becomes a perpetual charge upon the land. {Ground ash}. (Bot.) See {Groutweed}. {Ground bailiff} (Mining), a superintendent of mines. --Simmonds. {Ground bait}, bits of bread, boiled barley or worms, etc., thrown into the water to collect the fish, --Wallon. {Ground bass} or {base} (Mus.), fundamental base; a fundamental base continually repeated to a varied melody. {Ground beetle} (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of carnivorous beetles of the family {Carabid[ae]}, living mostly in burrows or under stones, etc {Ground chamber}, a room on the ground floor. {Ground cherry}. (Bot.) a A genus ({Physalis}) of herbaceous plants having an inflated calyx for a seed pod: esp., the strawberry tomato ({P. Alkekengi}). See {Alkekengl}. b A European shrub ({Prunus Cham[ae]cerasus}), with small very acid fruit. {Ground cuckoo}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Chaparral cock}. {Ground cypress}. (Bot.) See {Lavender cotton}. {Ground dove} (Zo["o]l.), one of several small American pigeons of the genus {Columbigallina}, esp. {C. passerina} of the Southern United States, Mexico, etc They live chiefly on the ground. {Ground fish} (Zo["o]l.), any fish which constantly lives on the botton of the sea, as the sole, turbot, halibut. {Ground floor}, the floor of a house most nearly on a level with the ground; -- called also in America, but not in England, the {first floor}. {Ground form} (Gram.), the stem or basis of a word to which the other parts are added in declension or conjugation. It is sometimes but not always the same as the root. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: base adj 1: serving as or forming a base; "the painter applied a base coat followed by two finishing coats" [syn: {basal}] 2: of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense); "baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or lowly) birth" [syn: {baseborn}, {humble}, {lowly}] 3: (used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal; "base coins of aluminum"; "a base metal" 4: not adhering to ethical or moral principles; "base and unpatriotic motives"; "a base, degrading way of life"; "cheating is dishonorable"; "they considered colonialism immoral"; "unethical practices in handling public funds" [syn: {dishonorable}, {dishonourable}, {immoral}, {unethical}] 5: having or showing a meanspirited lack of honor or morality; "that liberal obedience without which your army would be a base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage"; "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare; "something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics" [syn: {mean}, {meanspirited}] 6: (archaic) illegitimate [syn: {baseborn}] 7: debased; not genuine; "an attempt to eliminate the base coinage" n 1: installation from which a military force initiates operations; "the attack wiped out our forward bases" [syn: {base of operations}] 2: lowest supporting part of a structure; "it was built on a base of solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn: {foundation}, {fundament}, {foot}, {groundwork}, {substructure}, {understructure}] 3: place that runner must touch before scoring; "he scrambled to get back to the bag" [syn: {bag}] 4: the bottom or lowest part "the base of the mountain" 5: (anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment: "the base of the skull" 6: a lower limit: "the government established a wage floor" [syn: {floor}] 7: the fundamental assumptions underlying an explanation; "the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture" [syn: {basis}, {foundation}, {fundament}, {groundwork}, {cornerstone}] 8: a support or foundation; "the base of the lamp" [syn: {pedestal}, {stand}] 9: any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water; "bases include oxides and hydroxides of metals and ammonia" [syn: {alkali}] 10: the bottom side of a geometric figure from which the altitude can be constructed; "the base of the triangle" 11: (in a digital numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place "10 is the radix of the decimal system" [syn: {radix}] 12: the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end [syn: {home}] 13: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: {root}, {root word}, {stem}, {theme}, {radical}] 14: the basic facilities and equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; "the industrial base of Japan" [syn: {infrastructure}] 15: the principal ingredient of a mixture; "glycerinated gelatin is used as a base for many ointments"; "he told the painter that he wanted a yellow base with just a hint of green"; "everything she cooked seemed to have rice as the base" 16: a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit "a tub should sit on its own base" 17: (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector v 1: use as a basis for found on "base a claim on some observation" [syn: {establish}, {ground}, {found}] 2: use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes [syn: {free-base}] 3: assign to a station [syn: {station}, {post}, {send}, {place}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: base{radix}.
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