| 释义 |
▪ I. base, n.1|ˈbeɪs|
Forms: 4–7 basse, 4–6 baas, 4 bas, bays, 7 bass, 4– base.
[a. F. base (12th c. in Littré):—L. bas-is, a. Gr. βάσις a stepping, also that on which one steps or stands, pedestal, base, f. βα- ‘walk, go.’ The ME. spellings bas, baas, basse, indicate confusion with base a., which, in Fr., is distinct in origin and pronunciation.]
I. The lowest or supporting part.
* generally.
1. The bottom of any object, when considered as its support, or as that on which it stands or rests.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 999 Isaper hyȝt þe fyrst gemme Þat I on þe fyrst basse con wale. c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §41 b, Þe baas of þe tour. Ibid. §43 a, To knowe þe heyȝte of þynges, ȝif þou mayst nat come to þe bas of a þyng. c1440Promp. Parv. 20 Bace, or fundament, basis. 1483Cath. Angl. 23 Base (v.r. Bays), basis. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. i. 13 As doth a galled Rocke O'erhang and iutty his confounded Base. 1613Heywood Silv. Age ii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 120 Let all yon starry structure from his basses Shrinke to the earth. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxx. (1787) 88 When they came to the great pyramid they were astonished at the extent of the base. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. ix. 182 From the Jabbok up to the base of Hermon. 1866Tate Brit. Mollusks iv. 149 At the bases of the trees.
2. a. fig. Fundamental principle, foundation, groundwork.
c1500Blowbol's Test. in Halliwell Nugæ Poet. 2 Phisike..Whiche men callen baas naturall. 1581Lambarde Eiren. iv. v. (1588) 505 Enditements..be the chiefe base and groundworke whereupon the whole Triall is afterward to be built. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. x. (1686) 28 Hereby he undermineth the Base of Religion. 1738Wesley Psalms xxxvi, Nor Earth can shake, nor Hell remove The Base of thine eternal Love. 1879Green Read. Eng. Hist. xx. 100 Henry's charter..was at once welcomed as a base for the needed reforms.
†b. Ground of action or attitude. Obs.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 78 Anthonio [is]..on base and ground enough Orsino's enemie. a1628F. Greville in Farr S.P. (1845) I. 112 That man..nothing yet done amisse And so in him no base of this defection, Should fall from God.
c. A notional structure or entity conceived of as underlying some system of activity or operations; the resources, etc., on which something draws or depends for its operation. Usu. with preceding n., as customer base, power base, (and in technical application) database, knowledge base, etc.
1959, etc. [seepower base s.v. power n.1 18 a]. 1967[see database 1]. 1967B. Shoemaker Vocational—Technical Educ. Rep. (ED 072) 189 31 Large cities..normally have sufficient tax base and student base to provide for a comprehensive vocational education program. 1971[see knowledge base s.v. knowledge n. 16]. 1975Facts on File 18 Oct. 759 The exodus of middle- and upper-income persons and industrial establishments would..further erode the city's shrinking tax base. 1977Economist 13 Aug. 65/3 After its customer base, IBM's biggest asset is that $1 billion annual R&D budget. 1979Sci. Amer. Aug. 1 (Advt.), With CADD, you are creating, and have available for recall, an easily accessed base of geometrically accurate data. 1984Which Micro? Dec. 19/1 A well built computer with a large software base to draw upon.
** spec. and techn.
3. Arch.
a. The part of a column, consisting of the plinth and various mouldings, between the bottom of the shaft and top of the pedestal, or, if there is no pedestal, between the shaft and the pavement.
c1325E.E. Allit P. B. 1278 Þe bases of þe bryȝt postes. c1400Destr. Troy v. 1652 Pight into pilers prudly to shewe The bases and bourdurs all of bright perle. 1563Shute Archit. C j b, Vpon the which Base shalbe set Scapus, or the body of the pillor. 1643J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea ii. (1652) 174 God many times raises up golden pillars upon leaden Bases. 1734Builder's Dict. s.v., The Corinthian Base has two Tores, two Scotia's, and two Astragals. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. II. x. 514 Of Eadward's minster nothing is left save a few bases of pillars.
b. The plinth and mouldings which form the slightly projecting part at the bottom of the wall of a room.
c. The lowest course of masonry in a building.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 165 Bases and Surbases for Rooms.
4. A pedestal.
c1440Bible (Wyclif) Ex. xxxi. 9 (MS. I) The greet..lauatorie with his baas [1388 foundement]. 1463Bury Wills (1850) 19 That the ymage of oure lady..be set vp..with the baas redy therto. 1614Raleigh Hist. World ii. 292 These shee mounted on two great Bases or Pedestals of the same Metall. 1835Thirlwall Greece I. vii. 258 The base of his statue..bore an inscription.
†5. A socket. Obs.
c1325[cf. 5]. 1380Sir Ferumb. 1329 Þe raftres..And þe bases þat hem bere. 1648Lightfoot Glean. Ex. 49 Each Pillar was fastned in a base of brasse.
6. In mechanical arts:
a. in Printing, The bottom or footing of letters.
b. in Gunnery, The protuberant rear-portion of a cannon, between the knob of the cascabel and the base-ring.
1676Moxon Print. Lett. 6 Capital I is all Stem, except the Base and Topping. 1626–1862 [see 20].
c. Electr. One of the three electrodes of a transistor. Also attrib.
1948Physical Rev. LXXIV. 230/1 The transistor..consists of three electrodes... The third is a large area low resistance contact on the base. 1957Encycl. Brit. XXII. 404/1 In a typical transistor,..the charge carriers are..controlled by a signal between the emitter and a control electrode (base). 1959Electronic Engin. XXXI. 331 The base current of the transistor under test is changed in steps.
7. Bot. and Zool. That extremity of a part or organ by which it is attached to the trunk; e.g. the part of a leaf adjoining the leaf-stalk, of a pericarp adjoining the peduncle, of a thumb adjoining the hand.
1831R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 435 Its base is continuous with the tentorium cerebelli. 1866Treas. Bot. 121 A five-parted calyx..with glands at its base.
8. Her. The lower part of a shield; spec. the width of a ‘bar’ (or fifth part of the shield's height) parted off from the bottom by a horizontal line.
1611J. Guillim Heraldry iii. vii. 105 He beareth Or, on a Mount in Base a peare tree fructed. 1706Phillips, Base..in Heraldry, the lowest part of an escutcheon, consisting of the Dexter, Middle, and Sinister Base-points.
9. a. Geom. That line or surface of a plane or solid figure on which it stands, or is considered to stand, Thus:—of a triangle, any one side in respect of the other two; of a cone or pyramid, the circle or polygon remote from its apex; of a cylinder or prism, the lower of the two circles or equal polygons which form its ends.
1570Billingsley Euclid i. def. 29 In comparison of any two sides of a triangle, the third is called a base. 1571Digges Pantom. iv. def. 22 Any one of the Figures wherewith these solides be enuironed, is called the base of that solide. 1660Barrow Euclid. i. v, The angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal. 1817R. Jameson Charac. Min. 104 Terminal planes are the smallest planes that bound the greatest extent. In the prism they form the bases. 1831Brewster Optics ii. 17 A cone of rays, whose base is the circular mirror.
†b. distinct base in Optics: focal distance. Obs.
1706in Phillips. 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Distinct base..is that distance, from the pole of a convex glass, in which objects, beheld through it, appear distinct, and well defined.
10. Fortification. The imaginary line which connects the salient angle of two adjacent bastions.
1721in Bailey.
II. The main or most important element or ingredient, looked upon as its fundamental part.
11. a. generally.
1471Ripley Comp. Alch. in Ashm. (1652) Ep. 112 Our Base principally, Wherof doth spring both Whyte and Red naturally. 1696Phillips, Base..the principal Ingredient in a prescription. 1810Henry Elem. Chem. (1826) I. 627 A strong presumption that alumina is a metallic oxide; but its base, aluminum, has not been yet obtained.
b. Cosmetics. A substance used as a foundation.
1932Woman's Pictorial 23 Apr. 8/2 Use a pure vanishing cream..for the powder base. 1950J. Emerald Photographic Make-Up iv. 115 It should be applied to the surface of the features..over an invisible make-up base.
12. Dyeing. A substance used as a mordant, by which colours are fixed in the material dyed.
1791Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing II. ii. ii. 121 Its colouring particles are fixed by a base. 1875Ure Dict. Arts II. 168 The fixation of iron oxide and several other bases depends on the same change within the pores or fibre.
13. Mod. Chem. The electropositive compound body, whether metallic oxide (sulphide, selenide), hydrate, or alkaloid, which enters into combination with an acid to form a salt; the correlative of acid, including, but having wider meaning than, alkali.
1810Henry Elem. Chem. (1826) II. 51 Arsenites..may be formed by simply boiling the arsenious acid with the respective bases. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §1 In salts the taste is determined more by the base than by the acid. 1871Roscoe Elem. Chem. 427 Vegeto-alkaloids..a series of bodies containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which act as bases, and are found in certain plants.
14. Gram. The form of a word to which suffixes are attached; the theme.
1845Proc. Philol. Soc. I. 28 The p is indicatory, signifying that, for the radical vowel of the base, a Guna letter or diphthong is to be substituted. 1848Ibid. III. 58 This being the characteristic of the case itself, has of course nothing to do with the base of the word. 1875Whitney Life Lang. iv. 71 In the Scythian languages, it is the final vowel of the base which assimilates that of the following suffixes. Ibid. x. 207 The derivative theme or base.
III. That from which a commencement of action or reckoning is made, regarded as a fundamental starting-point.
15. a. The line or limit from which the start is made in a race, or which serves as a goal for the finish. b. The fixed line or ‘goal’ across which players endeavour to strike the ball in such games as hockey. c. The fixed points or stations round which the striker at rounders has to run, and at any of which he is allowed to stay; esp. in Baseball, each of the four stations at the angles of the ‘diamond’, all of which the batsman has to touch in succession in order to score a run. Phr. base on balls, an advance to first base allowed to the batsman when the pitcher has delivered four balls outside the strike zone.
1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. ix. 358 While round the Base the wanton Coursers play, Th' ambitious Riders in just Scales they weigh. 1812W. Tennant Anster F. iii. lvi, His toils are o'er, and he has gained the base. 1845in Appleton's Ann. Cycl. (1886) X. 77/2 No ace or base can be made on a foul strike. 1868Chadwick Game Base Ball 34 He has also to look sharp after a base runner, when he is trying to run to second base. 1874― Base Ball Manual 92 The bases must be four in number, and they must be placed and securely fastened upon each corner of a square whose sides are respectively thirty yards... The first, second, and third bases shall be canvas bags, painted white, and filled with some soft material; the home base shall consist of white marble or stone. 1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports iii. i. iv. §1 If while running between the bases he is hit by the ball, he is put out. 1886[see home n.1 B. 4]. 1891N. Crane Baseball x. 79 Base on balls. When a batsman is awarded first base by the umpire on ‘four balls’ called on the pitcher, the batsman is said to ‘take his base on balls’.
d. fig., in various expressions in U.S. slang, as off one's base, wildly mistaken, crazy, mad; to get to first base: to achieve the first step towards one's objective.
1882G. W. Peck Peck's Sunshine 42 The Boston lady held up her hands in holy horror, and was going to explain..how she was off her base. 1888‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. Jan. 463 It's about the gaudiest thing in the book, if you boom it right along and don't get left on a base. 1907M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness iii. iii. 251 Mrs. Butterbeans was so off her base about it, it was ludicrous. 1938F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. May (1964) 31, I thought I'd read Italian to read Dante and didn't get to first base. 1962Wodehouse Service with Smile x. 157 She gives you the feeling that you'll never get to first base with her.
16. a. Mil. The line or place upon which the general of an army relies as a stronghold and magazine, and from which the operations of a campaign are conducted. Also transf. to other operations.
1860Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. cxxii. 68 The theory of the base. A leading point in it, being that you must not pass a fortification, by reason of the effects its garrison would have on you if you left it in your rear. 1863Kinglake Crimea II. 193 The territory on which these resources are spread is called the ‘base of operations.’
b. Similarly, an air or naval station.
189619th Cent. Mar. 461 Tactical considerations demand a strong naval base, which we already possess in Gibraltar and Malta. 1909R. P. Hearn Aerial Warfare x. 134 (caption) Airship base. 1914War Illustr. 5 Dec. 384 Three Englishmen..on November 23rd..made a bomb attack on the Zeppelin workshops... Two..adventurers succeeded in flying back to their base. 1940Economist 7 Sept. 299/1 The leasing to the United States of air and naval bases in British possessions in America. 1947Auden Age of Anxiety (1948) i. 19 While we hurried on to our home bases.
17. Surveying. A line on the earth's surface or in space, of which the exact length and position are accurately determined, and which is used as a base (sense 9) for trigonometrical observations and computations.
1834M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. vi. 54 Measuring 500 feet of a base in Ireland. Ibid. (1849) Introd. 2 Use the globe he inhabits as a base wherewith to measure the magnitude and distance of the sun and planets.
18. Math. The number from which, as a definite starting-point, a system of numeration or logarithms proceeds.
1874Todhunter Trigon. x. 93 Suppose ax = n, then x is called the logarithm of n to the base a..e.g. 34 = 81; thus 4 is the logarithm of 81 to the base 3. Mod. The base of our system of numeration is 10.
IV. Comb. and attrib.
19. General relations:
a. appositive (= forming a base), as base-colour, base-line, base-plate, base-squadron, base-unit; in sense 16, base camp, base censor, base port, base ship, base wallah.
b. attrib. (= belonging to, or situated at, the base), as base-course, base-moulding (see 5 b), base-shoot, base-table.
a.1832Regul. Instr. Cavalry iii. 46 The Base Squadron, Troop, or Division, is the one upon which a Formation is made. 1871C. Davies Metr. Syst. ii. 41 That the metre is too large for a base-unit. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight v. 61 Red, yellow, and blue were formerly considered the base colors. 1879Cassell's Tech. Educ. IV. 243/1 At the back of the base-plate is a small stud. 1898Daily News 27 May 7/5 The boats will be used as base camps. 1900Blackw. Mag. Sept. 442/1 If..the senior officer commanding the Channel Squadron..brings his fleet into one of its natural base-ports. 1915Daily Express 12 Nov. 5/3 It had been resealed in the customary way with the printed label showing that it had been ‘Examined by Base Censor’. 1919W. Deeping Second Youth xxix. 251 This Base-wallah of a doctor. 1928Daily Express 13 June 1 It was sent by wireless to the expedition's baseship. 1937Discovery Dec. 376/1 He..established a base-camp where supplies could be concentrated before he advanced. 1962P. Purser Peregrination 22 xv. 69 Some of the chaps are going to cross an ice-cap... Not me..Strictly a base-wallah.
b.1845Gloss. Goth. Archit. I. 47 Base-moulding, Base-table..a projecting moulding or band of mouldings near the bottom of a wall. 1879Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. II. 82 The walls were further relieved by projecting base-courses. 1882Garden 11 Mar. 169/1 When all the base shoots are neatly tied down.
20. a. Special combinations: baseboard, a board situated at or forming the base; spec. (chiefly U.S.) a skirting-board; baseboard heating, heating of a room by means of heat supplied to the skirting-boards; base box = basis box (basis III); base-burner, a furnace or stove in which the fuel is supplied to the fire automatically from a hopper as the lower stratum is consumed; base hospital Mil., a hospital at some place distant from the area of active operations; base level, spec. in Phys. Geogr. (see quots.); hence base-levelled ppl. a., brought to base level; base-line (see quot. and cf. 16, 17); also in Perspective, the common section of a picture and the geometrical plane, and in Gunnery, a line traced round a cannon at the rear of the vent; also fig.; cf. also quot. 1802; base-load (see load n.); base-point, in Her., the middle point of the base (see 8); base rate (see quot.); base-ring, (a) a moulding on the breech of a cannon between the base and the first reinforce; (b) a projecting circular base; applied attrib. to a type of late Bronze Age pottery from Cyprus; † base-square (see quot.).
1854O. S. Fowler Home for All 159 After mop or *base⁓boards are nailed on..fill in between these boards..with stone or mortar. 1899Nature 15 June 149/2 The author conceived the idea of using on a base-board a rotary disc to represent a crank-shaft. 1935A. Squire Sing Sing Doctor xiv. 210 A broad baseboard curves inward on either side [of the electric chair] to form a single wide center leg. 1943Electronic Engin. XV. 390 The chassis is fixed vertically to a wooden baseboard so that the components are easily accessible. 1958M. L. Hall Newnes Complete Amat. Photogr. iii. 42 The scale is engraved on the base-board of the camera.
1954Archit. Rev. CXVI. 343 One last variety is skirting panel heating, which is used extensively in America where it is known as ‘*baseboard’ heating.
1925A. H. Mundey Tin & Tin Industry 95 There was hot-rolled a total of 213,940 *base boxes. 1956Base box [see basis box s.v. basis III].
1895Daily News 29 Apr. 5/3 It was intended to divide the ‘*Base Hospital’ among several of the larger stations within easy reach of the frontier. 1895Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 5/1 There are no dangerous cases of illness at the base hospital.
1875J. W. Powell Explor. Colorado River II. xii. 203 We may consider the level of the sea to be a grand *base level, below which the dry lands cannot be eroded. 1939Bailey & Weir Introd. Geol. xxxii. 188 Sea-level is often called the base level of stream erosion, although rivers do cut a little below sea-level. 1949W. G. Moore Dict. Geogr., The permanent base-level is the level of the sea; a lake provides a temporary base-level, but the sediment deposited in it by the stream destroys its effect.
1925J. Joly Surface-Hist. Earth v. 81 The *base-levelled stumps of Archaean mountains cover two millions of square miles in Canada. Ibid. vii. 114 The base-levelled remains of pre-Cambrian mountains or of the ancestral Rockies.
1750M. Mackenzie Orcades 3/1 The Direction of this *Base-line having been exactly taken with a Magnetic Needle, from each of its Extremities, with a good Theodelite, the Angles were observed, contained between the Base and visual rays connecting the Beacons. 1785Roy Surveying in Phil. Trans. LXXV. 406 It was seen that the computed base-line..would fall..little short of the hypothenusal distance. 1802C. James Milit. Dict., Base-line, the line on which troops in column move, the first division that marches into the alignement forms the base line, which each successive division prolongs. 1810Ibid., Base-line also signifies the line on which all the magazines and means of supply of an army are established, and from whence the lines of operation proceed. 1830E. Campbell Dict. Mil. Sc., Base-line, in Military Tactics, signifies the line on which all Magazines and means of Supply of an Army are established. 1902Daily Chron. 25 July 3/3 A definite base-line from which the future progress of Irish industry can be measured. 1961Lancet 29 July 227/2 The distribution of sensitivities found in various parts of the country served as a baseline.
1605Camden Rem. (1637) 225 John of Clarence bare..a Floure-de-lis Or in *Base-Point.
1923J. D. Hackett Labor Terms in Management Engineering May, *Base Rate, the ordinary day rate of wages guaranteed, in scientific management, whether the standard task is accomplished or not.
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 32 Her carnooze or *base ring at her britch. 1862F. Griffiths Artill. Man. 53 The Length of a gun is ascertained by measuring it from the rear of the *base ring to the face of the muzzle. 1899Myres & Ohnefalsch-Richter Catal. Cyprus Museum 16 With the exception of a few late and distinct fabrics, the vessels have no foot or base-ring to enable them to stand upright. Ibid. 37 Base-Ring Ware..is confined to the later Bronze Age, and does not appear much before the Mykenaean vases. 1905H. B. Walters Hist. Anc. Pottery I. vi. 242 Base-ring ware..is marked off from other Bronze-Age types by its flat-ringed base in all cases. 1949W. F. Albright Archæol. Palestine v. 99 Base-ring ware from Cyprus..died out rapidly after the beginning of the thirteenth century.
1598Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 95 The Base square, is the battell [i.e. battalion] which containeth almost thrise, or 3 times more in breadth then in depth.
b. In Baseball, as base-bag, base-player, base-playing, base-stealer, base-stealing (cf. steal v.1 5 g); base hit, a hit from which the ball cannot be fielded in time to prevent the batsman from reaching his base; base-line, (a) the line, three feet wide, marked on the turf from base to base of a baseball field; (b) the line at each end of a lawn-tennis court, also attrib., as base-line game, base-line driver; hence base-liner, one who drives from the base-line, also a base-line drive; base-runner, in Baseball, the player who, having made a fair hit or in other contingencies specified in the rules, is running the bases; so base running vbl. n.
1864Wilkes' Spirit of Times 10 Dec. 229/1 The player shall not be declared out if he maintains his position with any part of his person on the place where the base-bag belongs. 1867Chadwick Beadle's Dime Base Ball Player 10 The rule makes the base-bag the base, not the post to which it is fastened.
1874― Base Ball Manual 83 All ordinary errors, such as dropped flyballs, bad muffs, wild throws, and failures on the part of base players to hold balls thrown to them—all count in preventing base hits being made.
1867Ball Players' Chron. 4 July 5/1 Foul balls are those striking the ground or a player back of the base lines. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 406/2 [Base ball] The position of the bases and base lines may be likened to a 90 feet square shaped diamond. 1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 690/1 (Lawn tennis) The player who wins choice of courts serves; i.e. delivers the ball, standing with one foot outside the base line. 1878Laws of Lawn-tennis 7 At each end of the Court, parallel with the net, and at a distance of 39 ft. from it, are drawn Base-Lines. 1905Westm. Gaz. 29 June 5/2 Unsurpassed as a base-line driver. 1929W. E. Collinson Spoken Eng. 90 You'd better stand clear of the base-line or you may foot-fault.
1903Westm. Gaz. 27 July 10/2 Ritchie displayed remarkable activity and resource in getting back most of his opponent's lightning ‘base-liners’.
1867Chadwick Base Ball Player's Bk. 23 A base player taking a ball from a fielder. 1868― Game of Base Ball 34 We now come to base playing, and we propose to show that each position has its peculiar points of play.
1867― Beadle's Dime Base Ball Player 129 The base-runner ceased to be forced to leave the base. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 407/1 Directly a striker has fairly struck a fair ball he becomes a base-runner.
1867Ball Players' Chron. 6 June 4/2 Prohibiting base running on called balls. 1886Chadwick (title) The Art of Batting and Base Running.
1896― Spalding's Base Ball Guide 88 We have made up a record of the most successful base-stealers of the twelve League clubs who have a record of total stolen bases for at least three seasons. 1912C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch 272 Merkle..is a great base stealer because he has acquired the knack of ‘getting away’.
1886Chicago Tribune 14 May 3/3 The fifth inning was characterized by a cheeky bit of base-stealing by Dalrymple. 1917C. Mathewson Sec. Base Sloan xi. 145 He got to first and gave a very pretty exhibition of base-stealing a moment later.
c. Chem. base exchange, a reaction in which atoms of one chemical base in a compound substance are replaced by those of another; also attrib. (Also called cation exchange.) So base-exchanger, a substance capable of such a reaction; base-exchanging adj.; base-rich a., rich in basic ions.
1922Chem. Abstr. 3042 (title) Base exchange in silicates. I. Exchange of alkalies and ammonia in..permutite. 1930Discovery Oct. 340/1 Work on the base-exchange (zeolite) method of water-softening was..described. 1949P. C. Carman Chem. Constit. & Prop. Engin. Materials xiii. 385 A potassium-kaolinite can be prepared by base-exchange and shows no reluctance to exchange K+ for other cations.
1943Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. VI. 2l8/1 Processes involving base-exchangers include water-softening, total demineralising of water, purification of sugar juices, [etc.].
1917Chem. Abstr. 80 Base-exchanging substances, such as Na zeolites. 1958New Biol. XXVI. 91 Fen peat formed under conditions which are base-rich (i.e. containing relatively substantial concentrations of cations such as those of calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium) and alkaline. 1959A. R. Clapham et al. Excursion Flora Brit. Isles 328 Base-rich water.
Add:[III.] [15.] e. Baseball. to load (fill, etc.) the bases, to put a runner on all three bases; freq. with the bases full (loaded, etc., and conversely, empty); also as adj. phr. bases-loaded (also bases-empty).
1894Spalding's Base Ball Guide 58 To try for a homer over the heads of the out-fielders, is only admissible when the bases are full and a desperate chance has to be made. 1905Sporting Life (U.S.) 2 Sept. 11/1 He helped materially to land the second game by bringing out a double with the bases filled. 1908Baseball Mag. Dec. 35/2 With the bases all tenanted, ‘Happy Jack’ Melvin lacerated the firmament with a dollar and a quarter's worth of leather and filling. 1914Collier's 1 Aug. 6/2 When the bases are loaded he stings 'em a mile. 1920Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 11 Oct. 21/1 On even rarer occasions is it that the colossus of swat connects for a round-trip swat with the bases loaded as did Smith. 1938Washington Star 9 Oct. b10/8 With two out in the fourth innings and the bases empty, Bryant's spell was broken. 1944San Francisco Examiner 5 July 21/4 Rube Fletcher..walked three men to load the bases in the third frame. 1945Chicago Sun 11 Oct. 19/6 This left the bases filled, and Richards quietly cleared them with a double. 1950W. McCormick Bases Loaded xv. 171 Bases loaded, only one away, and Bronc Burnett to the plate. 1962J. Brosnan Pennant Race 124 He personally knocked Warren Spahn out of the box in the fifth, punching a bases-loaded single down the right field line. 1962Washington Post 27 June 45/6 Bill White and Ken Boyer hit bases-empty round-trippers in the Cardinals' rout of the Cubs. 1965N.Y. Times 4 July 3/3 With two out and the bases full, Frank Crosetti beat out a bunt. 1974State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 26 Apr. 2-b/8 Jeff Grantz beat out a bunt to load the bases. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 5 July c1/4 Richard Farrell cracked a bases-empty homer in the second for the Giants. 1986N.Y. Post 9 July 60/2 Wally Joyner hit a bases-loaded triple with one out to snap a scoreless tie and lift California into first place.
▸ base pay n. orig. U.S. the standard minimum payment received by a person for a period of work, exclusive of overtime, bonuses, etc.; basic pay.
1907Washington Post 14 July ii. 2/1 Militia officers are entitled only to the *base pay of their respective grades, and not to 19 per cent increase on this pay for every five years they have been in service. 1942Business Week 9 May 72/2 (heading) Base-pay mixup. 2003Daily Mail (Nexis) 10 Oct. 85 The survey shows the median base pay for a top chief executive is 600,000 and total earnings 1.33m.
▪ II. base, n.2|beɪs|
Also prisoner's base: in 5 bace, 6 baase.
[either a specific use of base n.1 III., or a phonetic corruption of bars (cf. bar n.1, and base n.5, n.6); if the latter is the real origin, the former accounts equally well for the sense.]
A popular game among boys; it is played by two sides, who occupy contiguous ‘bases’ or ‘homes’; any player running out from his ‘base’ is chased by one of the opposite side, and, if caught, made a prisoner.
c1440Promp. Parv. 20/2 Bace, pleye..barri, barrorum, dantur ludi puerorum. 1558Phaër æneid v. O j, Thys kind of pastime fyrst, and custome boyes to learne at Baase, Ascanius..dyd bryng in place. 1611Shakes. Cymb. v. iii. 20 Lads more like to run The Country base, then to commit such slaughter. 1653Greaves Seraglio 80 The Jeeret [is] a kind of running at base on horsback. 1880Boy's Own Bk. 27 Prisoners' Base is a capital game for cold weather.
†b. to bid base: to challenge to a chase in this game; gen. to challenge. Hence base-bidding adj.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke iv. 1 (R.) The spirite of wickednesse..biddeth bace, and begynneth firste with hym, of whom he was to be subdued. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. li, To bid the wind a base he now prepares. 1593Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 69 Sportiue Base-bidding Roundelayes. 1641Milton Animadv. Wks. (1851) 202, I shall not intend this hot season to bid you the base through the wide, and dusty Champaine of the Councels.
▪ III. † base, n.3 Obs. exc. Hist.|beɪs|
Also 6–7 baise, 7 bass.
[app. an Eng. application of base n.1 ‘bottom, lower part’ to these articles of dress.]
I. sing.
1. ? The housing of a horse.
1548Hall Chron. Hen. VIII, an. 1 (R.) The basses and bardes of their horse were grene sattyn. Ibid. an. 2 (R.) Their basses and trappers of clothe of gold, euery of them his name embroudered on hys basse and trapper. 1577Holinshed Chron. III. 825/1 The king had a base and a trapper of purple velvet. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 36 Caparisons and steeds; Bases and tinsel Trappings.
II. pl. bases (cf. skirts).
2. A plaited skirt, of cloth, velvet, or rich brocade, appended to the doublet, and reaching from the waist to the knee, common in the Tudor period; also an imitation of this in mailed armour.
1580Sidney Arcadia iii. 285 His bases which he ware so long as they came almost to his ankle. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. v. 20 An apron white, Instead of curiets and bases fit for fight. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. xii. lxix. (1612) 291 The Taishes, Cushies, and the Graues, Staffe, Pensell, Baises. 1639J. Aston Iter Boreale Add. MS. B.M. 28566 f. 25 b, A paire of bases of Plad and stockings of y⊇ same. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxix, His bases and the foot-cloth of his hobbyhorse dropping water.
3. The skirt of a woman's outer petticoat or robe.
1591Harington Orl. Fur. xxxii. xlvii, The collour of her bases was almost Like to the falling whitish leaves. 1672Jordan Lond. Tri. in Heath Grocer's Comp. (1869) 496 A short Petticoat or Bases of Silver, fringed with Gold. 1697C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 125 She had Basses all of Flowers of Point de Spain in Silk and Gold.
4. An apron.
c1605Marston (in Webster), Bakers in their linen bases. 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 769 [The butcher] With gauntlet blue and bases white.
▪ IV. † base, n.4 Mus. Obs.
Also 5–6 bace.
The regular form up to the present century of the word now spelt bass n.5, q.v.
a1450Songs & Carols (1847) 67 Whan..bulles of the see syng a good bace. 1629Milton Ode Nativity 130 The base of Heaven's deep organ. 1728Pope Dunc. ii. 225 Whose hoarse heroic base Drowns the loud clarion of the braying Ass. 1835Penny Cycl. s.v. Base in music, This word is frequently written bass, but the etymology, and more especially the pronunciation, are decidedly in favour of the orthography here adopted, which is sanctioned by Dr. Johnson and other high authorities.
▪ V. † base, n.5 Obs. exc. dial.
Also 5–6 bace.
[phonetic corruption of OE. bærs, barse, now bass.]
Earlier and dial. form of bass n.1, a fish.
c1440Promp. Parv. 20/2 Bace, fysche. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1878) 167 Carpe, base, mylet, or trowt. 1513Bk. Kerving ibid. 281 Base, molet, roche, perche. 1611Cotgr., Bar, the fish called a Base. 1620Venner Via Recta iv. 74 The Base is in goodnesse of iuyce inferiour to the Mullet. 1724De Foe, etc. Tour Gt. Brit. (1769) III. 341 One Draught of Base has equalled a Cart-load. 1851Cumbld. Gloss., Base, a perch.
▪ VI. † base, n.6 Obs.
6–7; also 6 bass.
[app. a corruption (cf. prec.) of F. barce, berche (both in Cotgr.), in same sense.]
The smallest kind of cannon used in the 16–17th centuries; see quot.
1544in Lodge Illustr. Brit. Hist. (1838) I. 105 Bastard culverins..besides other small field pieces, falcons, and bases. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1021/1 Their ordinance, namelie basses and slings. 1611Cotgr., Berche, the peece of ordnance called a Base. 1623Minsheu, Esmirel, a kind of artillery, to the bignes of an harquebus de croc called a base. 1692in Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. ii. vii. 96 Base..Diameter of bore 1·25 in., weight 200 lb., weight of shot 0·5 lb.
attrib.1599Hakluyt Voy. II. ii. 20 We let fall our grapnel almost a base shot off the shoare.
▪ VII. base, a.|beɪs|
Forms: 4–7 bass, 5 baas, (Sc. baisse), bas, 5–7 basse, 6–7 bace, 5– base.
[a. F. bas, fem. basse, cogn. with Pr. bas, It. basso:—late L. bassus, explained by Isidore, as ‘thick, fat,’ by Papias as ‘short, low’; found in cl. L. as a family cognomen. For the remoter etymology some suggest a Celtic source; others, including Diez, refer to Gr. βάσσων, compar. of βαθύς deep.]
A. I. Literal senses.
1. Low absolutely; of small height. arch.
1393Gower Conf. I. 98 Her nase bass, her browes high. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. v. 31 An entraunce, darke and bace..Descends to hell. 1605Shakes. Lucr. 664 The cedar stoops not to the base shrubs foot. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. iii. 56 A crowd of monks with base foreheads.
b. In Bot. denoting lowly growth; e.g. Base Broom, Base Rocket.
1578Lyte Dodoens 667 Of base Broome or Woodwaren..called in Latine, Genista humilis: in Italian Cerretta: that is, lowe and base Broome. 1863Prior Plant-n. 15 Base-rocket, from its rocket-like leaves, and lowly growth.
†2. Low comparatively; below its usual height.
1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xcix. [xcv.] 291 They founde the ryuer in suche a poynt, that in xxx. yeres before it was not so base. Ibid. cii. [xcviii.] 297 In wynter..the ryuers are but base and lowe.
†3. Occupying a low position, low-lying; of lower situation than neighbouring parts. Obs. Cf. base-court.
c1440Promp. Parv. 20 Bace chambyr, camera bassa. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxviii. iii, Alofte the basse toure foure ymages stode. 1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 33 b, When the basse or last gut issueth or is swollen. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iv. 20, I see thy Glory, like a shooting Starre, Fall to the base Earth from the Firmament. 1644Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) App. 8/1 The base valleyes enjoy a calm in a gentle gale. 1851Turner Dom. Archit. I. i. 6 To construct a base-chamber with a fireplace.
†b. esp. geographically or topographically. Obs.
1475Bk. Noblesse 45 He wanne..base Normandie. 1578Lyte Dodoens 5 The base Almaignes do call it ‘alsene.’ 1601Holland Pliny II. 210 Base Egypt watered..with Nilus. a1628F. Greville Sidney (1652) 226 They took the base Towne..even to the gates of the High Towne.
4. Of sounds: Low, not loud; deep, bass.
c1450Merlin xxviii. 572 He seide in bas voice: I am Monevall. c1500Partenay 945 Ful gret mynstracy; Bothe hye and bas instrumentes sondry. 1596Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 50 Sad words with hollow voice and bace, Shee to the virgin sayd. 1833Brewster Nat. Magic ix. 230 His ears were insensible to all sounds below F, marked by the base cliff.
†5. Deep-coloured, dark. Also adverbially. Obs.
1533Elyot Cast. Helth (1541) 87 Urine base redde, lyke to bole armenake. 1586Cogan Haven Health i. (1636) 8 That [urine] which is well colored not too high or base. [1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 72 Is black so base a hue?]
II. Figurative senses.
6. Low in the social scale, of lowly condition, plebeian; belonging to the ‘lower orders.’ arch.
1490Caxton Eneydos xi. 42 They whiche ben borne of basse parentage. c1500Partenay 523 If any you demaunde, hie other bas, Of your said lord. 1534More On the Passion Wks. 1289/2 To the keeping of hym from synne..a more base estate was better. 1602W. Fulbecke Pandectes 47 Hauing singled the most noble, did kill the baser prisoners. 1741–3Wesley Jrnl. (1749) 42 Many of the baser people would fain have interrupted.
†b. to bring base: to bring low. Obs.
c1430Lydg. Bochas v. xi. (1554) 130 b, The noblesse of Grece was brought baas. a1528Skelton Image Hypocr. iii. 430 This were a hevy case To se you brought so base To play without a place. 1550Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 195 Quhen say weill at sumtimes sall be brought base, Do weill sall triumph in euery place.
7. Illegitimate, bastard. ? Obs. exc. in base-born.
1570–87Holinshed Scot. Chron. (1806) II. 430 His base brother, Robert Maxwell. 1601F. Godwin Bps. Eng. 189 In his youth he was wantonly giuen, and gate a base daughter. 1695Kennett Par. Antiq. ix. 124 Jeffery the Kings base son. 1755in Wesley's Wks. (1872) III. 342 Their wretched Minister told them..that ‘John Wesley was expelled the College for a base child.’
8. Low in natural rank, or in the scale of creation.
1534More On the Passion Wks. 1324/1 A thing of more base nature then was the thing that was wont to be sacrificed to forefigure it. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 69 Ciuet is of a baser birth then Tarre, the verie vncleanly fluxe of a Cat. 1680H. More Apocal. Apoc. 127 The Wafer may happen to be eaten by base Vermine, such as Rats. 1775Harris Philos. Arrangem. (1841) 369 Providence has given to every animal, however base..a consciousness of this want [of food]. 1853Kingsley Hypatia iv. 43 She might sacrifice the base body, and ennoble the soul by the self-sacrifice.
9. Low in the moral scale; without dignity of sentiment; reprehensibly cowardly or selfish, despicably mean; opposed to high-minded:
a. of persons.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 178 Base, fearefull, and despayring Henry. 1675Dryden Aurengz. i. i. 248 Hast thou been never base? Did Love ne'er bend Thy frailer Virtue, to betray thy Friend? 1771Junius Lett. xlix. 253, I..call you the meanest and basest fellow in the kingdom. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 98 He offered Rochester a simple choice, to pronounce the Bishop guilty, or to quit the Treasury. Rochester was base enough to yield.
b. of actions, habits, thoughts, etc.
a1535More Wks. 361 (R.) Such a base foule fleshly liuing. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 24 On with a fresh courradge, and bace thoghts fearful abandon. 1614Raleigh Hist. World v. vi. §6 II. 642 A most base piece of flatterie. 1780Burke Let. T. Burgh Wks. IX. 250 A market-overt for legalizing a base traffick of Votes and Pensions. 1852McCulloch Taxation i. iv. 121 Their most upright decisions may be..ascribed to the basest motives.
10. Befitting an inferior person or thing; degraded or degrading, unworthy, menial.
1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii, The guttes and other partes of baser seruice. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 223 To what base vses we may returne Horatio. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 106 Better fitted for merchandize and other base occupations than for Chivalrie. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Luke xv. 15 Foolish sinners will submit to the basest servitude, and be attendants of swine.
11. Law. Servile, as opposed to free. base tenure, base estate, or base fee: orig. tenure, not by ‘free’ or military service, but by base service, such as a ‘villain’ owed to his lord; later, since this was tenure at the mere will of the lord, applied to such tenure in fee simple as may determine on the fulfilment of a contingent qualification or limitation. So base-tenant. See also base-court.
1523Fitzherb. Surv. 14 These maner of copye holders haue an estate of enherytaunce, after the custome of the maner, yet haue they no franke tenement..and therfore they be called tenantes of base tenure. 1607Cowell Interpr. s.v., Base tenants be they which do to their lords villeinous service. 1741T. Robinson Gavelkind v. 45 As well to free Socage as base. 1768Blackstone Comm. II. 61 Base services..as to plough the lord's land, to make his hedges. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 589 English liberty would thenceforth be held by a base tenure. It would be, not, as heretofore, an immemorial inheritance. 1876Digby Real Prop. iv. §3. 189 An estate in fee which was thus liable to be defeated was called in later times a base fee.
†12. Of price: Low, cheap. Obs. rare.
1599Hakluyt Voy. II. 164 As base prices as is possible. Ibid. 239 They..sell them at most vile and base prices.
13. Of inferior quality; mean, paltry, common, poor, shabby.
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iii. 274 He may yet sustaine his body with bacer foode. 1576Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 157 This old house..may now seeme but a base Barn in your eie. 1607Rowlands Diog. Lanth. 5 Base is thy attyre, as thrid-bare in thy apparel as my Gowne. 1785Cowper Task i. 50 The rest..content With base materials, sat on well-tann'd hides. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps vi. §18. 180 The cheapest and basest imitation which can escape detection.
b. Of language: Not classical, debased.
1549Olde Erasm. Par. Thess. Ded., A translacion of basse kinde of thenglishe phrase. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 44 Base is the style, and matter meane withall. a1661Fuller (in Webster), Base Latin. Mod. ‘Of very base Latinity.’
14. Of comparatively little value, worthless. base metals: those not classed as noble or precious.
1607Shakes. Timon iii. iii. 6 They haue all bin touch'd, and found Base-Mettle. 1613Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 23 A base Myne where there is Ore, shall be the Kings for the worthinesse of the Ore. 1684Contemp. State Man ii. i. (1699) 133 All Temporal things are in themselves little and bass. 1702Addison Dial. Medals iii. 145 Coins..made of your baser sorts of metal. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Base metals. See Noble metals.
15. Alloyed with less valuable metal; debased, counterfeit.
a1528Skelton Vox Populi viii. vi. 9 The coyne yt is so scante.. But even as much to base. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Argent, Silver..twelue grains baser than Argent le Roy. 1725Swift Wood the Ironm. Wks. 1755 IV. i. 66 They search'd his pockets on the place, And found his copper all was base. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 215 Persons who refused the base money were arrested.
16. Comb.
a. adverbially with pa. pple., as in base-begged, base-begot, base-bred, base-born; also base-like adj., seeming base.
b. parasynthetic deriv., as base-hearted, base-mettled, base-spirited, base-witted, base-minded; and deriv. from these, as base-heartedly, base-spiritedness.
a.1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. To Bk., If that any aske thy name, Say, thou wert base-begot. 1600Gowrie's Conspir. in Harl. Misc. (1793) 190 Recountred a base-like fellow, vnknowne to him. 1609Daniel Civ. War (1717) II. 22 Prolongs this not long base-begg'd Breath. 1616Pasquil & Kath. iv. 120 Whose verie eyes will blaze His base-bred spirit.
b.1547Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 422 Every silly soul and base-witted man. a1683Oldham Wks. & Rem. (1685) 10 To rein, and curb base-mettled Hereticks. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VII. lxxxi. 338 His generous confessions taken for a mark of base-spiritedness. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. 391 Thy stupidities and grovelling baseheartedness.
B. quasi-adv.; cf. ‘high and low’; OF. en haut et en bas completely. See also A 6.
c1500Partenay 927 Ther fair chapel..Wel apparailled it was, hie and bas.
C. absol. quasi-n. Cf. bast n.2
†1. Bastard. Obs.
1591Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 18 Base to a King addes title of more State, Than Knights begotten, though legitimate. 1602Parish Reg. Roxwell, Essex 8 June, Agnes, the base of Maudlin Wonner. 1624Ibid. 18 July, Richardus, the base of Dominici Godstret.
†2. Bastardy. Obs. (? error for bast.)
1611Speed Hist. Gt. B. ix. xviii, Children..begot in base.
▪ VIII. † base, v.1 Obs.;
Also 4–5 besse, 6 baisse, baas.
[partly aphetic f. abase v.; partly a. F. baisse-r (= Pr. baissar:—late L. bassā-re, f. bassus: see base a.), whence the frequent 16th c. form baisse.]
1. To lower; to bring, cast, or lay down.
c1375Barbour Bruce iv. 94 Sum best, sum woundyt, sum als slayne. 1580North Plutarch (1676) 343 They could not once base their Pikes, nor fight. 1592W. Wyrley Armorie 50 Sir Eustace..Did baisse his gleaue. 1600Holland Livy xlv. xix. 1213 To base at the feet of..his conquerour, the crowne..which he came unjustly by.
2. To lower in rank, condition, or character; to debase, humble, depose, degrade.
1538Pole in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. ii. lxxxiii. 217 Long continuance in other studies, that baseth the mind. 1559Myrr. Mag., Warwick xii, That plaaste and baaste his soverayne so oft. 1626Breton Fantasticks (1857) 323 Love..weakneth strength, and baseth Honour.
3. To lessen in amount or value, depreciate; to debase (metals).
1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. ii. (1876) 49 By basing the estimacion of wooll and felles. a1626Bacon (J.) Metals, which we cannot base.
▪ IX. base, v.2|beɪs|
in 6 bace.
[f. base n.1]
1. trans. To make, lay, or form a foundation for.
1587Myrr. Mag., Brennus xl, By bloudshed they doe founde, bace, builde, and prop their state. 1809J. Barlow Columb. iv. 514 Long toils..Must base the fabric of so vast a throne. 1878G. Macdonald Phantastes vi. 94 Great roots based the tree-columns.
2. To place on or upon a foundation or logical basis; to found, establish securely, secure. (So mod.F. baser.)
1841Myers Cath. Th. iv. §12. 247 The foundations on which any moral judgement..can be based. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. iv. 46 These [bank-]notes were based on gold. 1878Hopps Princ. Relig. iii. 13 Upon this great truth of His eternal goodness and mercy we base all our hopes.
▪ X. † base, v.3 Obs. rare.
[f. base n.2]
intr. To run at, or as at, prisoner's base.
1589Warner Alb. Eng. Prose Addit. (1612) 341 With Bacing on foote and on horsbacke, a sport lately vsed of our English youthes. 1614Chapman Odyss. x. 527 Yong heiffers..all so spritely given..about Bace by the dams. |
