The Collaborative International Dictionary
Base \Base\, n. [F. base, L. basis, fr. Gr. ba`sis a stepping, step, a base, pedestal, fr. bai`nein to go, step, akin to E. come. Cf. Basis, and see Come.]
The bottom of anything, considered as its support, or that on which something rests for support; the foundation; as, the base of a statue. ``The base of mighty mountains.''
--Prescott.Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the essential principle; a groundwork.
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(Arch.)
The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when treated as a separate feature, usually in projection, or especially ornamented.
The lower part of a complete architectural design, as of a monument; also, the lower part of any elaborate piece of furniture or decoration.
(Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support.
(Chem.) The positive, or non-acid component of a salt; a substance which, combined with an acid, neutralizes the latter and forms a salt; -- applied also to the hydroxides of the positive elements or radicals, and to certain organic bodies resembling them in their property of forming salts with acids.
(Pharmacy) The chief ingredient in a compound.
(Dyeing) A substance used as a mordant.
--Ure.(Fort.) The exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angles of two adjacent bastions.
(Geom.) The line or surface constituting that part of a figure on which it is supposed to stand.
(Math.) The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of logarithms.
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[See Base low.] A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.)
The lowest part; the deepest male voice.
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One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base.
The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.
--Dryden.
(Mil.) A place or tract of country, protected by fortifications, or by natural advantages, from which the operations of an army proceed, forward movements are made, supplies are furnished, etc.
(Mil.) The smallest kind of cannon. [Obs.]
(Zo["o]l.) That part of an organ by which it is attached to another more central organ.
(Crystallog.) The basal plane of a crystal.
(Geol.) The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline.
(Her.) The lower part of the field. See Escutcheon.
The housing of a horse. [Obs.]
pl. A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mailed armor) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower. [Obs.]
The lower part of a robe or petticoat. [Obs.]
An apron. [Obs.] ``Bakers in their linen bases.''
--Marston.-
The point or line from which a start is made; a starting place or a goal in various games.
To their appointed base they went.
--Dryden. (Surv.) A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a system of triangles.
--Lyman.A rustic play; -- called also prisoner's base, prison base, or bars. ``To run the country base.''
--Shak.-
(Baseball) Any one of the four bounds which mark the circuit of the infield. Altern base. See under Altern. Attic base. (Arch.) See under Attic. Base course. (Arch.)
The first or lower course of a foundation wall, made of large stones or a mass of concrete; -- called also foundation course.
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The architectural member forming the transition between the basement and the wall above. Base hit (Baseball), a hit, by which the batsman, without any error on the part of his opponents, is able to reach the first base without being put out. Base line.
A main line taken as a base, as in surveying or in military operations.
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A line traced round a cannon at the rear of the vent.
Base plate, the foundation plate of heavy machinery, as of the steam engine; the bed plate.
Base ring (Ordnance), a projecting band of metal around the breech, connected with the body of the gun by a concave molding.
--H. L. Scott.
Usage examples of "base plate".
All that remained was for me to drill out another hole where it joined the base plate.
The instant before he fired, Sean hurled himself forward, dropping under the shot like a runner sliding for the base plate.
He does not know we have guns and mortars lined up nearly hubcap to hubcap and base plate to base plate all across the breadth of the front.
Heller went inside, put the base plate together and shortly had it all connected with the TV.
Reaching across, Vorishnov grabbed the long, crooked arm that served to arm the tank's main gun as well as deflect the wide base plate of expended main gun rounds into a container hanging from the gun's breech.
The piece of brown plastic was the base plate for an electronic circuit, a very complex one.
I took the base plate off the one by the bed and found that my visitor was going first class.
As the flames died away, he opened the glass door and the seven-foot base plate rolled out smoothly on its castors.
The rifle now, when seen in profile, looked more normal, with a trigger and a complete stock sketched in outline by the upper and lower strut and the base plate.
All he needed was a light hollow metal box, a base plate on one end, a spring and a follower on the loading end, the whole thing big enough for five tiny brass cartridges.
Now he had erected a tripod and was lowering the generator by means of a block and tackle, while Scanlon and Baxter guided it so that the bolts would enter the holes in the base plate.
For almost fifteen interminable seconds Dunnet sat quite still, not looking at Harlow, then he brought up his typewriter from beneath the bed, upended it and undipped the, base plate.
The habitat sat on legs attached to a heavy weighted base plate that provided a stable platform on the seafloor fifty feet below the surface.
It would of course be broken down for movement, but the individual components-the tube itself, and especially the base plate- were heavy as hell, and were going to be damned hard to get into and out of a rubber boat.