base1
n.
- the lowest part of something, especially the part on which it rests or is supported.
▸Architecture the part of a column between the shaft and pedestal or pavement.
▸Botany & Zoology the end at which a part or organ is attached to the trunk or main part.
- a conceptual structure or entity on which something draws or depends:
the town's economic base collapsed.
▸a foundation or starting point.
- a person's main place of work or residence.
▸a centre of operations for military or other activity.
- a main element or ingredient to which other things are added.
▸a substance into which a pigment is mixed to form paint.
- Chemistry a substance capable of reacting with an acid to form a salt and water, or of accepting or neutralizing hydrogen ions.
- Electronics the middle part of a bipolar transistor, separating the emitter from the collector.
- Linguistics the root or stem of a word or a derivative.
▸the uninflected form of a verb.
- Mathematics a number used as the basis of a numeration scale.
▸a number in terms of which other numbers are expressed as logarithms.
- Baseball one of the four stations that must be reached in turn to score a run.
v.
-
(base something on)
use something as the foundation for:
the film is based on a novel.
- use a place as a centre of operations.
Phrase
- get to first base
informal, chiefly N. Amer. achieve the first step towards one's objective. - off base
informal mistaken. - touch base
informal briefly make or renew contact.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from OFr., from L. basis ‘base, pedestal’, from Gk.
base2
adj.
- without moral principles; ignoble.
- archaic denoting or befitting a person of low social class.
- (of coins or other articles) not made of precious metal.
Derivative
Etymology
ME (in the sense ‘low, short’): from OFr. bas, from med. L. bassus ‘short’ (found in classical L. as a cognomen).