Base - Definition

adj 1: serving as or forming a base; "the painter applied a base
coat followed by two finishing coats" [syn: basal,
base]
2: of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense);
"baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or lowly)
birth" [syn: base, baseborn, humble, lowly]
3: (used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior
metal; "base coins of aluminum"; "a base metal"
4: not adhering to ethical or moral principles; "base and
unpatriotic motives"; "a base, degrading way of life";
"cheating is dishonorable"; "they considered colonialism
immoral"; "unethical practices in handling public funds"
[syn: base, immoral]
5: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality; "that
liberal obedience without which your army would be a base
rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage"; "chok'd
with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare; "something
essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics" [syn:
base, mean, meanspirited]
6: illegitimate [syn: base, baseborn]
7: debased; not genuine; "an attempt to eliminate the base
coinage"
n 1: installation from which a military force initiates
operations; "the attack wiped out our forward bases" [syn:
base, base of operations]
2: lowest support of a structure; "it was built on a base of
solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn:
foundation, base, fundament, foot, groundwork,
substructure, understructure]
3: a place that the runner must touch before scoring; "he
scrambled to get back to the bag" [syn: base, bag]
4: the bottom or lowest part; "the base of the mountain"
5: (anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of
attachment; "the base of the skull"
6: a lower limit; "the government established a wage floor"
[syn: floor, base]
7: the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or
developed or calculated or explained; "the whole argument
rested on a basis of conjecture" [syn: basis, base,
foundation, fundament, groundwork, cornerstone]
8: a support or foundation; "the base of the lamp" [syn: base,
pedestal, stand]
9: a phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit
of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) [syn: nucleotide, base]
10: 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" [syn: base, alkali]
11: the bottom side of a geometric figure from which the
altitude can be constructed; "the base of the triangle"
12: the most important or necessary part of something; "the
basis of this drink is orange juice" [syn: basis, base]
13: (numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent
to one in the next higher counting place; "10 is the radix
of the decimal system" [syn: base, radix]
14: the place where you are stationed and from which missions
start and end [syn: base, home]
15: 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 [syn: al-Qaeda, Qaeda,
al-Qa'ida, al-Qaida, Base]
16: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are
removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn:
root, root word, base, stem, theme, radical]
17: the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed
for the functioning of a country or area; "the industrial
base of Japan" [syn: infrastructure, base]
18: 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"
19: a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit; "a tub
should sit on its own base"
20: (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the
emitter from the collector
v 1: use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some
observation" [syn: establish, base, ground, found]
2: situate as a center of operations; "we will base this project
in the new lab"
3: use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes
[syn: free-base, base]