- base
- base n Base, basis, foundation, ground, groundwork are comparable when meaning something on which another thing is reared or built or by which it is supported or fixed in place.Base may be applied to the lowest part or bottom of something without strong implication of purpose as a support or prop{
the base of a tree
}{base of a mountain
}but more often it implies specific reference to a broad bottom or to a substructure on which a thing rests or seems to rest for support or by which it is kept upright or stable{the base of a pyramid
}{the base of a lamp
}{the base of a triangle
}{the first of four cabinets the liberal leader was to form ... in attempts to achieve a combination of ministers with a wide enough base to ensure effective support— Current Biog.
}The word may fail to stress an underlying and then applies to something which serves either as a starting point of a development, an operation, or a process{a base of operations
}{a submarine base
}{coal tar is the base from which whole families of useful compounds are derived
}or as a necessary ingredient that carries or contains the active ingredient of a mixture{lanolin is the base of many cosmetics
}{dynamite often has an absorbent base such as sawdust
}Basis like base may be used in reference to something that underlies and supports or to something that serves as a starting point, but the term is rarely applied to a physical or material thing; thus, one may speak of the base (but not the basis) of a monument, or of the basis (not the base)for a certain belief{implicit trust is the basis of a lasting friendship
}{phrase a question as a basis for discussion
}{tradition forms a basis for the acquiring of literary taste— Day Lewis
}Foundation usually implies solidity in what underlies and supports and fixity or stability in whatever is erected on that support; thus, a house has a base even if it rests directly on the ground but it may properly be said to have a foundation only when it rests on a substructure (as a wall of stones or bricks lining an excavation and usually rising above the surface of the ground); a report may be said to have its basis (not foundation) in speculation, but a report that is said to be without foundation has no basis in fact{let me pry loose old walls; let me lift and loosen old foundations— Sandburg
}{as the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation of it— Adams
}{how firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!— Old Hymn
}Ground implies something solid or firm beneath, or a substratum comparable to the earth or ground in its firmness and capacity for support; the term is therefore applied to a material, a substance, or a surface upon which another thing is built or against which it is displayed; thus, a piece of net may serve as a ground upon which a pattern is worked in lacemaking; before a decorative design is applied to a wall, the ground, or wall surface, must be treated and colored so that it will take the pattern and display it properly.Groundwork is applied not to a substratum but to a substructure ; like foundation, the term suggests something built up before the superstructure is erected, but, unlike foundation, it is used chiefly in a figurative sense{early training is the groundwork of good habits
}{lay a groundwork in college for one's professional studies
}{the groundwork of all happiness is health— Hunt
}Antonyms: topContrasted words: *summit, peak, apexbase vb Base, found, ground, bottom, stay, rest are comparable when they mean to supply or to serve as a basis.Base now rarely suggests a material support upon which a material superstructure is built{the pile ... I reared up to the cloud . . . based on the living rock— Browning
}but rather something material or immaterial that underlies a nonmaterial superstructure (as a belief, a system, a judgment, a hope or an action){is it not the conviction that action should be based ... on solid fact?— Eliot
}{shares, or bonds, or other pieces of paper, the value of which is based upon the estimated future earnings or profits— Hobson
}Found comes so close to base as often to be indistinguishable from it and, therefore, to be interchangeable with it{and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew . . . and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock— Mt 7:25
}Often, however, it suggests not what merely underlies but what is consciously advanced as support (as for an opinion, a principle, a judgment, a belief, or an affection){a man that all his time hath founded his good fortunes on your love— Shak.
}{certain fixed laws and principles which he proceeds to found upon Aristotle— Babbitt
}{this criticism is founded in misconception— Cardozo
}Ground denotes an implanting (as into the earth) that gives solidity and firmness; it may apply to something (as personal virtue, education, or an institution) which can grow and thrive only when it is firmly based (as if by deep roots){that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints . . . and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge— Eph 3:17-19
}{ofttimes nothing profits more than self-esteem, grounded on just and right— Milton
}But ground may be used, less strictly, in a sense approaching that of base and found{he grounds his theory on evidence gathered over a long period of time
}{their quarrel was grounded on a dispute over petty matters
}Bottom implies a broad or strong base{bottomed upon solid principles of law and policy— Burke
}Stay implies a support that keeps upright or prevents from falling and may suggest adding a supplementary support to correct an observed or anticipated tendency{stay a weakened wall with props
}{his nature looked coldly upon its early faith and sought to stay itself with rational knowledge— H. O. Taylor
}Rest stresses reliance or dependence on something as a base or fundamental support{their academic reputations rest, quite largely, upon their academic power— Mills
}{metrical forms are conventional, and therefore rest, like all matters of usage, on acceptance— Lowes
}{if the Germans are to justify the high claims they make for Lessing as a critic, they must rest them on other grounds than his intellectual originality-or the fineness of his taste— Babbitt
}base adj Base, low, vile mean contemptible because beneath what is expected of the average man. What is base excites indignation because devoid of all nobility or even of humanity; the term usually implies the setting (as through cowardice or avarice) of self-interest ahead of duty to others{peace had brought only the shabby, dispiriting spectacle of Versailles, with its base greeds and timidities— Montague
}What is low outrages one's sense of decency or propriety. The term, when implying moral contemptibility, often suggests a taking advantage (as by cunning, deceit, or other devious practice) of a person who is helpless or not in a position to defend himself{no one thought he could be low enough to steal a nickel from a blind beggar's cup
}{whenever a dramatist wished to introduce intrigue, chicanery, or other dirty work, his dramatis personae included a low attorney— Law Times
}Low also is often used of persons, thoughts, language, or actions that strongly offend one's sense of propriety{/ow humor
}{they were low, those sensual feelings; they were ignoble— Huxley
}What is vile is inexpressibly base or low; the word often implies disgusting foulness or depravity{it was vile indeed to unaccustomed and unhardened senses. Every little habitation . . . left its own heap of refuse on its own landing, besides flinging other refuse from its own windows— Dickens
}{the vilest epithet in the English language— Freeman
}Analogous words: *mean, ignoble, abject, sordid: *bad, evil, ill, wicked: ignominious, infamous, disgraceful (see corresponding nouns at DISGRACE)Antonyms: noble
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
