| • | Of little, or less than the usual, height; of low growth; as, base shrubs. |
| • | Low in place or position. |
| • | Of humble birth; or low degree; lowly; mean. |
| • | Illegitimate by birth; bastard. |
| • | Of little comparative value, as metal inferior to gold and silver, the precious metals. |
| • | Alloyed with inferior metal; debased; as, base coin; base bullion. |
| • | Morally low. Hence: Low-minded; unworthy; without dignity of sentiment; ignoble; mean; illiberal; menial; as, a base fellow; base motives; base occupations. |
| • | Not classical or correct. |
| • | Deep or grave in sound; as, the base tone of a violin. |
| • | Not held by honorable service; as, a base estate, one held by services not honorable; held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant, a base tenant. |
| • | The bottom of anything, considered as its support, or that on which something rests for support; the foundation; as, the base of a statue. |
| • | Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the essential principle; a groundwork. |
| • | 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. |
| • | That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support. |
| • | 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. |
| • | The chief ingredient in a compound. |
| • | A substance used as a mordant. |
| • | The exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angles of two adjacent bastions. |
| • | The line or surface constituting that part of a figure on which it is supposed to stand. |
| • | The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of logarithms. |
| • | A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.) (a) The lowest part; the deepest male voice. (b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base. |
| • | 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. |
| • | The smallest kind of cannon. |
| • | That part of an organ by which it is attached to another more central organ. |
| • | The basal plane of a crystal. |
| • | The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline. |
| • | The lower part of the field. See Escutcheon. |
| • | The housing of a horse. |
| • | 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. |
| • | The lower part of a robe or petticoat. |
| • | An apron. |
| • | The point or line from which a start is made; a starting place or a goal in various games. |
| • | 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. |
| • | A rustic play; -- called also prisoner's base, prison base, or bars. |
| • | Any one of the four bounds which mark the circuit of the infield. |
| • | To put on a base or basis; to lay the foundation of; to found, as an argument or conclusion; -- used with on or upon. |
| • | To abase; to let, or cast, down; to lower. |
| • | To reduce the value of; to debase. |
