bars

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.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. [1913 Webster]

2.Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the essential principle; a groundwork. [1913 Webster]

3.(Arch.) (a) The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when treated as a separate feature, usually in projection, or especially ornamented. (b) The lower part of a complete architectural design, as of a monument; also, the lower part of any elaborate piece of furniture or decoration. [1913 Webster]

4.(Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support. [1913 Webster]

5.(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. [1913 Webster]

6.(Pharmacy) The chief ingredient in a compound. [1913 Webster]

7.(Dyeing) A substance used as a mordant. --Ure. [1913 Webster]

8.(Fort.) The exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angles of two adjacent bastions. [1913 Webster]

9.(Geom.) The line or surface constituting that part of a figure on which it is supposed to stand. [1913 Webster]

10.(Math.) The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of logarithms. [1913 Webster]

11.[See Base low.] A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.) (a) The lowest part; the deepest male voice. (b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base. [Now commonly written bass.] [1913 Webster]

The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

12.(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. [1913 Webster]

13.(Mil.) The smallest kind of cannon. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

14.(Zool.) That part of an organ by which it is attached to another more central organ. [1913 Webster]

15.(Crystallog.) The basal plane of a crystal. [1913 Webster]

16.(Geol.) The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline. [1913 Webster]

17.(Her.) The lower part of the field. See Escutcheon. [1913 Webster]

18.The housing of a horse. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

19.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.] [1913 Webster]

20.The lower part of a robe or petticoat. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

21.An apron. [Obs.] "Bakers in their linen bases." --Marston. [1913 Webster]

22.The point or line from which a start is made; a starting place or a goal in various games. [1913 Webster]

To their appointed base they went.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

23.(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. [1913 Webster]

24.A rustic play; -- called also prisoner's base, prison base, or bars. "To run the country base." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

25.(Baseball) Any one of the four bounds which mark the circuit of the infield. [1913 Webster]

Altern base. See under Altern.

Attic base. (Arch.) See under Attic.

Base course. (Arch.) (a) The first or lower course of a foundation wall, made of large stones or a mass of concrete; -- called also foundation course. (b) 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) A main line taken as a base, as in surveying or in military operations. (b) 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. [1913 Webster]