What is "bases"

Basis \Ba"sis\ (b[=a]"s[i^]s), n.; pl. Bases (b[=a]"s[=e]z).

1. The foundation of anything; that on which a thing rests.
   --Dryden.

2. The pedestal of a column, pillar, or statue. [Obs.]

   If no basis bear my rising name.
   --Pope.

3. The groundwork; the first or fundamental principle; that which supports.

   The basis of public credit is good faith.
   --A. Hamilton.

4. The principal component part of a thing.

Etymology 1 n. (plural of base English) vb. (en-third-person singular of: base) Etymology 2

n. (plural of basis English)

See base

1. adj. serving as or forming a base; "the painter applied a base coat followed by two finishing coats" [syn: basal]

2. (used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal; "base coins of aluminum"; "a base metal"

3. of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense); "baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or lowly) birth" [syn: baseborn, humble, lowly]

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: dishonorable, dishonourable, immoral, unethical]

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: mean, meanspirited]

6. illegitimate [syn: baseborn]

7. debased; not genuine; "an attempt to eliminate the base coinage"

8. [also: bases (pl)]

1. n. 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: alkali]

2. installation from which a military force initiates operations; "the attack wiped out our forward bases" [syn: base of operations]

3. lowest support of a structure; "it was built on a base of solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn: foundation, fundament, foot, groundwork, substructure, understructure]

4. place that runner must touch before scoring; "he scrambled to get back to the bag" [syn: bag]

5. (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: radix]

6. the bottom or lowest part; "the base of the mountain"

7. (anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment; "the base of the skull"

8. a lower limit; "the government established a wage floor" [syn: floor]

9. 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, foundation, fundament, groundwork, cornerstone]

10. a support or foundation; "the base of the lamp" [syn: pedestal, stand]

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]

13. the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end [syn: home]

14. an intensely anti-western terrorist network that dispenses money and logistical support and training to a wide variety of radical Islamic terrorist group; has cells in more than 50 countries [syn: al-Qaeda, Qaeda, al-Qa'ida, al-Qaida]

15. (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: root, root word, stem, theme, radical]

16. the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; "the industrial base of Japan" [syn: infrastructure]

17. 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"

18. a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit; "a tub should sit on its own base"

19. (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector

20. [also: bases (pl)]

1. v. use as a basis for; found on; "base a claim on some observation" [syn: establish, ground, found]

2. use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes [syn: free-base]

3. assign to a station [syn: station, post, send, place]

4. [also: bases (pl)]

Bases may refer to:

• Bases (fashion), a military style of dress adopted by the chivalry of the sixteenth century
• Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES)

Bases are the cloth military skirts (often part of a doublet or a jerkin), generally richly embroidered, worn over the armour of later men-at-arms such as French gendarmes in the late 15th to early 16th century, as well as the plate armour skirt later developed in imitation of cloth bases for supplemental upper-leg protection, worn by men-at-arms for foot combat.