an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare
a degree or grade of excellence or worth; "the quality of students has risen"; "an executive of low caliber"
a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something; "each town has a quality all its own"; "the radical character of our demands"
high social status; "a man of quality"
of high social status; "people of quality"; "a quality family"
place that runner must touch before scoring; "he scrambled to get back to the bag"
(electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector
installation from which a military force initiates operations; "the attack wiped out our forward bases"
a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit; "a tub should sit on its own base"
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"
the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end
(anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment; "the base of the skull"
the bottom or lowest part; "the base of the mountain"
(numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place; "10 is the radix of the decimal system"
the bottom side of a geometric figure from which the altitude can be constructed; "the base of the triangle"
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"
debased; not genuine; "an attempt to eliminate the base coinage"
illegitimate
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"
of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense); "baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or lowly) birth"
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"
(used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal; "base coins of aluminum"; "a base metal"
a musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature
without intention (especially resulting from heedless action); "with an inadvertent gesture she swept the vase off the table"; "accidental poisoning"; "an accidental shooting"
associated by chance and not an integral part; "poetry is something to which words are the accidental, not by any means the essential form"- Frederick W. Robertson; "they had to decide whether his misconduct was adventitious or the result of a flaw in his character"
occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "their accidental meeting led to a renewal of their friendship"; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence"