These words are both usually pronounced /beɪs/.
A bass is a male singer who can sing very low notes.
A bass saxophone, guitar, or other musical instrument is one that has a lower range of notes than other instruments of its kind.
A bass is also an edible fish that is found in rivers and the sea. There are several types of bass.
Be Careful!
Note that this sense of the word bass is pronounced /bæs/.
The base of something is its lowest edge or part.
Imperative |
---|
base |
base |
Noun | 1. | ![]() air base, air station - a base for military aircraft army base - a large base of operations for an army firebase - an artillery base to support advancing troops military installation - any facility servicing military forces navy base - base of operations for a naval fleet rocket base - a military base for rocket missiles armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker" |
2. | ![]() bed - a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track; "the track bed had washed away" raft foundation - a foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of reinforced concrete structure, construction - a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts; "the structure consisted of a series of arches"; "she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons" support - supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation; "the statue stood on a marble support" | |
3. | ![]() baseball diamond, infield, diamond - the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate baseball equipment - equipment used in playing baseball first base - the base that must be touched first by a base runner in baseball home base, home plate, plate, home - (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score; "he ruled that the runner failed to touch home" second base - the base that must be touched second by a base runner in baseball third base, third - the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball; "he was cut down on a close play at third" | |
4. | base - the bottom or lowest part; "the base of the mountain" | |
5. | ![]() anatomy, general anatomy - the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals bottom - the lowest part of anything; "they started at the bottom of the hill" | |
6. | base - a lower limit; "the government established a wage floor" control - the economic policy of controlling or limiting or curbing prices or wages etc.; "they wanted to repeal all the legislation that imposed economic controls" price floor - floor below which prices are not allowed to fall; "the government used price supports to maintain the price floor" wage floor - floor below which wages are not allowed to fall | |
7. | base - the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained; "the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture" explanation - thought that makes something comprehensible meat and potatoes - the fundamental part; "successful negotiation is the meat and potatoes of arbitration" supposal, supposition, assumption - a hypothesis that is taken for granted; "any society is built upon certain assumptions" | |
8. | ![]() brass monkey - a metal stand that formerly held cannon balls on sailing ships staddle - a base or platform on which hay or corn is stacked support - any device that bears the weight of another thing; "there was no place to attach supports for a shelf" trivet - a stand with short feet used under a hot dish on a table trivet - a three-legged metal stand for supporting a cooking vessel in a hearth | |
9. | ![]() base pair - one of the pairs of chemical bases joined by hydrogen bonds that connect the complementary strands of a DNA molecule or of an RNA molecule that has two strands; the base pairs are adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine in DNA and adenine with uracil and guanine with cytosine in RNA adenosine monophosphate, adenylic acid, AMP - a nucleotide found in muscle cells and important in metabolism; reversibly convertible to ADP and ATP adenosine diphosphate, ADP - an ester of adenosine that is converted to ATP for energy storage adenosine triphosphate, ATP - a nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue; the major source of energy for cellular reactions deoxyadenosine monophosphate, A - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) deoxycytidine monophosphate, C - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) deoxyguanosine monophosphate, G - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) deoxythymidine monophosphate, T - one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose) ester - formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water muton - the smallest unit of DNA where a mutation can occur | |
10. | base - any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water; "bases include oxides and hydroxides of metals and ammonia" pyridine - a toxic colorless flammable liquid organic base with a disagreeable odor; usually derived from coal purine - a colorless crystalline organic base containing nitrogen; the parent compound of various biologically important substances purine - any of several bases that are derivatives of purine chemical compound, compound - (chemistry) a substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight cyanuramide, melamine - a white crystalline organic base; used mainly in making melamine resins pyrimidine - any of several basic compounds derived from pyrimidine | |
11. | ![]() flank - a subfigure consisting of a side of something | |
12. | ![]() component part, part, portion, component, constituent - something determined in relation to something that includes it; "he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than himself"; "I read a portion of the manuscript"; "the smaller component is hard to reach"; "the animal constituent of plankton" | |
13. | base - (numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place; "10 is the radix of the decimal system" number representation system, number system, numeration system, system of numeration - any notation for the representation of numbers number - a concept of quantity involving zero and units; "every number has a unique position in the sequence" | |
14. | base - the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end location - a point or extent in space | |
15. | Base - a terrorist network intensely opposed to the United States that dispenses money and logistical support and training to a wide variety of radical Islamic terrorist groups; has cells in more than 50 countries act of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act - the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear Afghanistan, Islamic State of Afghanistan - a mountainous landlocked country in central Asia; bordered by Iran to the west and Russia to the north and Pakistan to the east and south; "Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in 1979" Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Pakistan, West Pakistan - a Muslim republic that occupies the heartland of ancient south Asian civilization in the Indus River valley; formerly part of India; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947 | |
16. | base - (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" linguistics - the scientific study of language descriptor, form, signifier, word form - the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; "the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached" | |
17. | base - the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; "the industrial base of Japan" communication equipment, communication system - facility consisting of the physical plants and equipment for disseminating information fire station, firehouse - a station housing fire apparatus and firemen gas system - facility (plant and equipment) for providing natural-gas service main - a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage penal facility, penal institution - an institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public power grid, power system, grid - a system of high tension cables by which electrical power is distributed throughout a region public works - structures (such as highways or schools or bridges or docks) constructed at government expense for public use school system - establishment including the plant and equipment for providing education from kindergarten through high school sewage system, sewage works, sewer system - facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage transportation, transportation system, transit - a facility consisting of the means and equipment necessary for the movement of passengers or goods water supply, water system, water - a facility that provides a source of water; "the town debated the purification of the water supply"; "first you have to cut off the water" | |
18. | base - the principal ingredient of a mixture; "glycerinated gelatin is used as a base for many ointments"; "he told the painter that he wanted a yellow base with just a hint of green"; "everything she cooked seemed to have rice as the base" ingredient - a component of a mixture or compound | |
19. | base - a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit; "a tub should sit on its own base" box - a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid; "he rummaged through a box of spare parts" lamp - a piece of furniture holding one or more electric light bulbs vessel - an object used as a container (especially for liquids) | |
20. | base - (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector electrode - a conductor used to make electrical contact with some part of a circuit electronic transistor, junction transistor, transistor - a semiconductor device capable of amplification electronics - the branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices | |
Verb | 1. | base - use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation" build - found or ground; "build a defense on nothing but the accused person's reputation" |
2. | base - situate as a center of operations; "we will base this project in the new lab" | |
3. | ![]() | |
Adj. | 1. | ![]() basic - pertaining to or constituting a base or basis; "a basic fact"; "the basic ingredients"; "basic changes in public opinion occur because of changes in priorities" |
2. | ![]() lowborn - of humble birth or origins; "a topsy-turvy society of lowborn rich and blue-blooded poor" | |
3. | ![]() inferior - of low or inferior quality | |
4. | ![]() wrong - contrary to conscience or morality or law; "it is wrong for the rich to take advantage of the poor"; "cheating is wrong"; "it is wrong to lie" | |
5. | ![]() ignoble - completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose; "something cowardly and ignoble in his attitude"; "I think it a less evil that some criminals should escape than that the government should play an ignoble part"- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. | |
6. | base - illegitimate archaicism, archaism - the use of an archaic expression illegitimate - of marriages and offspring; not recognized as lawful | |
7. | base - debased; not genuine; "an attempt to eliminate the base coinage" counterfeit, imitative - not genuine; imitating something superior; "counterfeit emotion"; "counterfeit money"; "counterfeit works of art"; "a counterfeit prince" |