What does "base" mean?
Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
Base
/beɪs/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
- Grammar: base is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: alkali, foundation, groundwork, radix.
- Useful contrasts: admirable, desirable, likeable.
- Usage evidence: What do you base your theory on?
How to use "base"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "base" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "base" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "base" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "base" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "base" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alkali" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "base", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Something from which other things extend; a foundation. countable, uncountable
- 2 The game of prisoners' bars. US, historical, uncountable
"to run the country base"
- 3 Alternative form of BASE. alt-of, alternative
- 4 Acronym of building, antenna-tower, span, earth. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 5 a support or foundation wordnet
Show 54 more definitions
- 6 Something from which other things extend; a foundation.; A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object. countable, uncountable
"Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house."
- 7 a place that the runner must touch before scoring wordnet
- 8 The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis. countable, uncountable
- 9 (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector wordnet
- 10 A site, structure, or both, usually durable and often permanent, for housing military personnel and materiel. countable, uncountable
- 11 installation from which a military force initiates operations wordnet
- 12 The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters. countable, uncountable
- 13 a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit wordnet
- 14 A basic but essential component or ingredient. countable, uncountable
- 15 the principal ingredient of a mixture wordnet
- 16 A substance used as a mordant in dyeing. countable, uncountable
- 17 lowest support of a structure wordnet
- 18 Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform. countable, uncountable
- 19 the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area wordnet
- 20 Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds that turn red litmus blue and react with acids to form salts. countable, uncountable
- 21 the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained wordnet
- 22 Important areas in games and sports.; A safe zone in the children's games of tag and hide-and-go-seek. countable, uncountable
- 23 (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed wordnet
- 24 Important areas in games and sports.; One of the four places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out when the ball is in play. countable, uncountable
- 25 a lower limit wordnet
- 26 The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement. countable, uncountable
- 27 the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end wordnet
- 28 A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer. countable, uncountable
- 29 (anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment wordnet
- 30 The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support. countable, uncountable
- 31 the bottom or lowest part wordnet
- 32 The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT). countable, uncountable
- 33 (numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place wordnet
- 34 The lowest side of a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat. countable, uncountable
- 35 the most important or necessary part of something wordnet
- 36 The lowest third of a shield (or field), or an ordinary occupying this space, the champagne. (Compare terrace.) countable, uncountable
"The shield was silver, charged with a red cross voided (that is, with the centre cut out and only the edges left), between in chief (that is, above the horizontal limb of the cross) two black dragon's wings, and in base two red daggers, and in the centre of the cross a black winged helmet; on a red chief (a broad band across the top of the shield), a silver pale (a broad vertical band), and thereon eight black arrows crossed X-wise, four and four, and encircled with a black band, between on the dexter three bendlets (narrow bands slanting from dexter chief to sinister base) enhanced (that is, raised above the centre), and on the sinister a fleur-de-lis, all of gold."
- 37 the bottom side of a geometric figure from which the altitude can be constructed wordnet
- 38 A number raised to the power of an exponent. countable, uncountable
"The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3."
- 39 any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water wordnet
- 40 Synonym of radix. countable, uncountable
- 41 a phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) wordnet
- 42 The set of sets from which a topology is generated. countable, uncountable
- 43 A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles. countable, uncountable
- 44 A sequence of elements not jointly stabilized by any nontrivial group element. countable, uncountable
- 45 In hand-to-hand balance, the person who supports the flyer; the person that remains in contact with the ground. countable, uncountable
- 46 A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached. countable, uncountable
- 47 Dated form of bass. alt-of, countable, dated, uncountable
"The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar."
- 48 The smallest kind of cannon. countable, historical, uncountable
- 49 The housing of a horse. archaic, countable, uncountable
- 50 A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower. countable, historical, in-plural, sometimes, uncountable
"[…] with flowers of gold, the body lined with velvet, and the bases, or skirts, with satin; also a frock of black satin, lined with sarcenet, having three welts of the same."
- 51 A kind of armour skirt, of mail or plate, imitating the preceding civilian skirt. countable, historical, in-plural, sometimes, uncountable
"The base (skirt), as opposed to the practical skirt of the tonlet armour, is an affectation in imitation of the civilian fabric garment of the period and may well have been inspired by a similar feature on Maximilian's gift armour."
- 52 The lower part of a robe or petticoat. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 53 An apron. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"bakers in their linen bases"
- 54 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. countable, uncountable
"Use the globe he inhabits as a base wherewith to measure the magnitude and distance of the sun and planets."
- 55 A group of voters who almost always support a single party's candidates for elected office. countable, uncountable
- 56 The forces and relations of production that produce the necessities and amenities of life. Marxism, countable, uncountable
- 57 A material that holds paint or other materials together; a binder. countable, uncountable
- 58 Ellipsis of base leg. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 59 freebase cocaine slang, uncountable
"TYLER LENNON (played by Louis Healy): Ten grand a week we were clearing: base, white, meth, weed, anything. I can get you anything to get you high."
Verb
- 1 To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of. transitive
"Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants."
- 2 use as a basis for; found on wordnet
- 3 To be located (at a particular place). transitive
"Take a look at that. This is where we are going to be basing this season."
- 4 use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes wordnet
- 5 To act as a base; to be the person supporting the flyer.
"Apart from time taken out during radio- and chemotherapy, Maurs continued to participate in POW. She would base a flyer in a double balance and make the audience laugh with her clowning antics for two more shows."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 situate as a center of operations wordnet
- 7 To freebase. slang
"You know he started to base at a hell of a pace / And now it's a disgrace, he's got the pipe in his face"
Adjective
- 1 Low in height; short. obsolete
"The cedar stoops not to the base shrub's foot."
- 2 Low in place or position.
"I see thy glory like a shooting star / Fall to the base earth from the firmament."
- 3 Of low value or degree. obsolete
"If thou livest in paine and sorrow, thy base courage is the cause of it, To die there wanteth but will."
- 4 Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common. archaic
"UUhat meanes the mightie Turkiſh Emperor To talke with one ſo baſe as Tamburlaine?"
- 5 Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
"a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind"
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality. archaic
"'Like this horrible film.' 'Horrible?' Lenina was genuinely astonished. 'But I thought it was lovely.' 'It was base,' he said indignantly, 'it was ignoble.'"
- 7 Not considered precious or noble.
- 8 Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.
"base coin"
- 9 Of illegitimate birth; bastard. obsolete
"Why bastard? Wherefore base?"
- 10 Not classical or correct.
"base Latin"
- 11 Obsolete form of bass. alt-of, obsolete
"the base tone of a violin"
- 12 Relating to feudal land tenure held by a tenant from a lord in exchange for services that are seen as unworthy for noblemen to perform, such as villeinage.
"A base estate is one held by services not honourable, or held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant is a base tenant."
Adjective
- 1 debased; not genuine wordnet
- 2 illegitimate wordnet
- 3 having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality wordnet
- 4 of low birth or station (‘base’ is archaic in this sense) wordnet
- 5 serving as or forming a base wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 not adhering to ethical or moral principles wordnet
- 7 (used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the nickname.
Example
"What do you base your theory on?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "base"?
Common synonyms include: alkali, foundation, groundwork, radix, abhorrent, abject.
How do you use "base" in a sentence?
What do you base your theory on?
How do you pronounce "base"?
Pronounced /beɪs/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English base, bas, baas, from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis). Doublet of basis and bass.
Etymology 2
From Middle English base, bas, from Old French bas, from Late Latin bassus (“low”). Cognate with Spanish bajo, Italian basso and base.
Etymology 3
Probably a specific use of Etymology 1, above; perhaps also a development of the plural of bar.
Etymology 4
Variant forms.
Etymology 5
From base (“short”).