the convergence of two parallel railroad tracks in a narrow place; the inner rails cross and run parallel and then diverge so a train remains on its own tracks at all times
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 sign placed in front of an expression to denote that a root is to be extracted
a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram
a person who has radical ideas or opinions
especially of leaves; located at the base of a plant or stem; especially arising directly from the root or rootstock or a root-like stem; "basal placentation"; "radical leaves"
arising from or going to the root; "a radical flaw in the plan"
of or relating to or constituting a linguistic root; "a radical verb form"
(cricket) the period during which a given number of balls (6 in England but 8 in Australia) are bowled at the batsman by one player from the other team from the same end of the pitch
throughout a period of time; "stay over the weekend"
at or to a point across intervening space etc.; "come over and see us some time"; "over there"
throughout an area; "he is known the world over"
beyond the top or upper surface or edge; forward from an upright position; "a roof that hangs over";
the arithmetic operation of summing; calculating the sum of two or more numbers; "the summation of four and three gives seven"; "four plus three equals seven"
a concluding summary (as in presenting a case before a law court)
(physiology) the process whereby multiple stimuli can produce a response (in a muscle or nerve or other part) that one stimulus alone does not produce
an anatomical structure used as a point of origin in locating other anatomical structures (as in surgery) or as point from which measurements can be taken
a mark showing the boundary of a piece of land
an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend; "the agreement was a watershed in the history of both nations"
the position of a prominent or well-known object in a particular landscape; "the church steeple provided a convenient landmark"