What does "basket" mean?
A lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
Basket
/ˈbɑːs.kɪt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
- Grammar: basket is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: hoop, airship, ark, assortment.
- Useful contrasts: carts, empty, fail.
- Usage evidence: Mary set the basket on the table.
How to use "basket"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "basket" 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 "basket" 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 "basket" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "basket" 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 "basket" is acting as 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 "hoop" 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 "basket", 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 A lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom. countable, uncountable
"A basket of fake fruit adorned the table."
- 2 a score in basketball made by throwing the ball through the hoop wordnet
- 3 A lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.; A bed for a cat. broadly, countable, uncountable
- 4 a container that is usually woven and has handles wordnet
- 5 A wire or plastic container similar in shape to a basket, used for carrying articles for purchase in a shop. countable, uncountable
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 horizontal circular metal hoop supporting a net through which players try to throw the basketball wordnet
- 7 In an online shop, a listing of a customer's chosen items before they are ordered. Internet, countable, uncountable
- 8 the quantity contained in a basket wordnet
- 9 A set or collection of intangible things. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"The basket of issues that developing countries had vigorously wanted addressed such as agriculture, SANDD and implementation-related issues were given scant attention by developed countries for most part of the conference."
- 10 A circular hoop, from which a net is suspended, which is the goal through which the players try to throw the ball. countable, uncountable
"The point guard drove toward the basket."
- 11 The act of putting the ball through the basket, thereby scoring points. countable, uncountable
"The last-second basket sealed the victory."
- 12 The game of basketball. uncountable
"Let's play some basket."
- 13 A dance movement in some line dances, where men put their arms round the women's lower backs, and the women put their arms over the men's shoulders, and the group (usually of four, any more is difficult) spins round, which should result in the women's feet leaving the ground. countable, uncountable
- 14 The penis and region surrounding it. countable, slang, uncountable
- 15 The bulge of the penis seen through clothing. countable, slang, uncountable
- 16 In a stage-coach, two outside seats facing each other. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"In my time, the follies of the town crept slowly among us, but now they travel faster than a stage-coach. Its fopperies come down not only as inside passengers, but in the very basket."
- 17 A protection for the hand on a sword or a singlestick; a guard of a bladed weapon. archaic, countable, uncountable
- 18 A protection for the hand on a sword or a singlestick; a guard of a bladed weapon.; A singlestick with a basket hilt. archaic, countable, uncountable
"Baw! damme, but I'll fight you both, one after the other——with baskets."
- 19 A usually disc-like piece attached near the bottom of a ski pole to prevent it from sinking too deep into the snow. countable, uncountable
- 20 The gondola or wicker basket suspended from the balloon, in which the pilot and passengers travel. countable, uncountable
"Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth."
- 21 The bell or vase of the Corinthian capital. countable, uncountable
"Thus the capital of the Corinthian column always resembles a deep narrow basket covered with a tile, and completely surrounded by foliage"
- 22 Bastard. countable, euphemistic, informal, uncountable
"Wait till I catch you, you little basket!"
- 23 A drogue (or para-drogue) in the probe-and-drogue refueling method countable, uncountable
"Don't smoosh the basket."
- 24 Short for basket of goods abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To place in a basket or baskets. transitive
- 2 To cross-collateralize the royalty advances for multiple works so that the creator is not paid until all of those works have achieved a certain level of success. transitive
"Foreign language paperback, serial and book club would be basketed together in a 50/50 subsidiary rights clause."
Example
"Mary set the basket on the table."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "basket"?
Common synonyms include: hoop, airship, ark, assortment, bag, ballocks.
How do you use "basket" in a sentence?
Mary set the basket on the table.
How do you pronounce "basket"?
Pronounced /ˈbɑːs.kɪt/.
Etymology
From Middle English basket, from Anglo-Norman baschet, basket, bascat, of obscure origin. One theory is that it derives from Late Latin bascauda (“kettle, table-vessel”), from Proto-Brythonic (in Breton baskodenn), from Proto-Celtic *baskis (“bundle, load”), from purported Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“bundle”), but this is now widely viewed as a substrate word for phonetic reasons. Related to Latin fascis (“bundle, package, load”) (whence English fasces), Albanian bokshe (“bundle”), Breton bac'h (“bundle, load”), Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos) and βάσκιοι (báskioi) (“bundle (of sticks)”); see also faggot (“(originally) bundle of sticks”).