baseness

• : the bottom support of anything; that on which a thing stands or rests: a metal base for the table.
• : a fundamental principle or groundwork; foundation; basis: the base of needed reforms.
• : the bottom layer or coating, as of makeup or paint.
• : Architecture. the distinctively treated portion of a column or pier below the shaft or shafts.the distinctively treated lowermost portion of any construction, as a monument, exterior wall, etc.
• : Botany, Zoology. the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment.the point of attachment.
• : the principal element or ingredient of anything, considered as its fundamental part: face cream with a lanolin base; paint with a lead base.
• : that from which a commencement, as of action or reckoning, is made; a starting point or point of departure.
• : the main supporters or fans of a political candidate, celebrity, company, etc.: Her proposed policies are calculated to appeal to her base.
• : Baseball. any of the four corners of the diamond, especially first, second, or third base.Compare home plate. a square canvas sack containing sawdust or some other light material, for marking first, second, or third base.
• : a starting line or point for runners, racing cars, etc.
• : the goal.
• : Military. a fortified or more or less protected area or place from which the operations of an army or an air force proceed.a supply installation for a large military force.
• : Geometry. the line or surface forming the part of a figure that is most nearly horizontal or on which it is supposed to stand.
• : Mathematics. the number that serves as a starting point for a logarithmic or other numerical system.a collection of subsets of a topological space having the property that every open set in the given topology can be written as the union of sets of the collection.a collection of neighborhoods of a point such that every neighborhood of the point contains one from the collection.a collection of sets of a given filter such that every set in the filter is contained in some set in the collection.
• : Also called base line. Surveying. See under triangulation.
• : Painting. vehicle. Also called carrier .inert matter, used in the preparation of lakes, onto which a coloring compound is precipitated.
• : Photography. a thin, flexible layer of cellulose triacetate or similar material that holds the light-sensitive film emulsion and other coatings, especially on motion-picture film.
• : Chemistry. a compound that reacts with an acid to form a salt, as ammonia, calcium hydroxide, or certain nitrogen-containing organic compounds.the hydroxide of a metal or of an electropositive element or group.a group or molecule that takes up or accepts protons.a molecule or ion containing an atom with a free pair of electrons that can be donated to an acid; an electron-pair donor.any of the purine and pyrimidine compounds found in nucleic acids: the purines adenine and guanine and the pyrimidines cytosine, thymine, and uracil.
• : Grammar. the part of a complex word, consisting of one or more morphemes, to which derivational or inflectional affixes may be added, as want in unwanted or biolog- in biological.Compare root, stem.
• : Linguistics. the component of a generative grammar containing the lexicon and phrase-structure rules that generate the deep structure of sentences.
• : Electronics. an electrode or terminal on a transistor other than the emitter or collector electrodes or terminals.the part of an incandescent lamp or electron tube that includes the terminals for making electrical connection to a circuit or power supply.
• : Stock Exchange. the level at which a security ceases a decline in price.
• : Heraldry. the lower part of an escutcheon.
• : bases, Armor. a tonlet formed of two shaped steel plates assembled side by side.
• : Jewelry. pavilion.
• : in base, Heraldry. in the lower part of an escutcheon.

• : serving as or forming a base: The walls will need a base coat and two finishing coats.

based, bas·ing.

• : to make or form a base or foundation for.
• : to establish, as a fact or conclusion: He based his assumption of her guilt on the fact that she had no alibi.
• : to place or establish on a base or basis; ground; found: Our plan is based on a rising economy.
• : to station, place, or situate: He is based at Fort Benning. The squadron is based on a carrier.

based, bas·ing.

• : to have a basis; be based: Fluctuating prices usually base on a fickle public's demand.
• : to have or maintain a base: I believe they had based on Greenland at one time.