the bottom part of something that supports the rest of it
The statue toppled when its base cracked.
She placed the lamp firmly on the base of the table.
✦ From Latin "basis" via Old French, originally from Greek "basis" meaning “step, pedestal.”
a place where people live or work from and return to, especially for military or business activities
After six months abroad, the researchers returned to their base in London.
The new military base was built near the border.
one of the four markers a runner must touch to score in baseball
He sprinted to first base after hitting the ball.
The crowd cheered when she stole second base.
to use something as the main idea, fact, or place from which something develops
Scientists base their conclusions on evidence.
She based her painting on a childhood memory.
a substance that reacts with acids to form salts and usually has a bitter taste and slippery feel
Sodium hydroxide is a strong base used in soap making.
When you mix an acid with a base, you get water and salt.
the number or side that is used as a reference point in mathematics, such as the lower side of a shape or the number that is raised to a power
In 2³, the base is 2.
The pyramid’s base measures 150 meters on each side.
showing a lack of honor or moral principles; low or vile
It was a base act to cheat his own friends.
The novel portrays the base instincts of human greed.
A small white leather-covered ball with raised red stitching that is hit and thrown in the sport of baseball.
The pitcher rubbed a fresh baseball between his hands before the first throw.
Lena displayed the signed baseball from her favorite player on her bedroom shelf.
✦ Named directly from the sport, first recorded in the late 1800s when standardized equipment was adopted.
the lowest or worst level in a ranking, list, or set of results
After losing five games, the team found itself in the basement of the league standings.
The company’s stock price has been stuck in the basement for months.
✦ Extension of the architectural sense to metaphorical rankings, first recorded in sports journalism in the early 20th century.
a structured collection of information kept on a computer so it can be quickly searched, managed, and updated
Our company stores every customer record in a secure database.
The scientist searched an online database for articles about climate change.
✦ Formed in the 1960s from data + base, referring to a foundational store of data.
to store information in a structured computer system so it can be easily searched and managed
The research team will database all the survey responses before publishing the report.
After scanning the documents, the librarian databases them for easy searching.
✦ Back-formation from the noun database, first used as a verb in the 1970s within computing fields.
