10 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Your base is the main place where you work, stay, or live. □  For most of the spring and early summer her base was her home in Scotland.

11 N‑COUNT [usu sing] If a place is a base for a certain activity, the activity can be carried out at that place or from that place. □  The two hotels are attractive bases from which to explore southeast Tuscany.

12 N‑COUNT The base of a substance such as paint or food is the main ingredient of it, to which other substances can be added. □  Drain off any excess marinade and use it as a base for a pouring sauce. □  Oils may be mixed with a base oil and massaged into the skin.

13 N‑COUNT A base is a system of counting and expressing numbers. The decimal system uses base 10, and the binary system uses base 2.

14 N‑COUNT A base in baseball, softball, or rounders is one of the places at each corner of the square on the pitch.

base|ball ◆◇◇ /be I sbɔːl/ (baseballs )

1 N‑UNCOUNT In America, baseball is a game played by two teams of nine players. Each player from one team hits a ball with a bat and then tries to run around three bases and get to the home base before the other team can get the ball back.

2 N‑COUNT A baseball is a small hard ball which is used in the game of baseball.

base|board /be I sbɔːd/ (baseboards ) N‑COUNT A baseboard is a narrow length of wood which goes along the bottom of a wall in a room and makes a border between the walls and the floor. [AM ] in BRIT, use skirting board

based ◆◆◆ /be I st/

1 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are based in a particular place, that is the place where you live or do most of your work. □  Both firms are based in Kent. □  Based on the edge of Lake Matt, Sunbeam Yachts started boatbuilding in 1870.

2 → see also base

-based /-be I st/

1 COMB -based combines with nouns referring to places to mean something positioned or existing mainly in the place mentioned, or operating or organized from that place. □  …a Washington-based organization. □  …land-based missiles.

2 COMB -based combines with nouns to mean that the thing mentioned is a central part or feature. □  …computer-based jobs. □  …oil-based sauces.

3 COMB -based combines with adverbs to mean having a particular kind of basis. □  There are growing signs of more broadly-based popular unrest.

base|less /be I sləs/ ADJ If you describe an accusation, rumour, or report as baseless , you mean that it is not true and is not based on facts. □  The charges against her are baseless. □  …baseless allegations of corruption.

base|line /be I sla I n/ (baselines ) also base-line

1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The baseline of a tennis, badminton, or basketball court is one of the lines at each end of the court that mark the limits of play. □  Martinez, when she served, usually stayed on the baseline.

2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] In baseball, the baseline is the line that a player must not cross when running between bases.

3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A baseline is a value or starting point on a scale with which other values can be compared. □ [+ for ] You'll need such information to use as a baseline for measuring progress.

base|ment /be I smənt/ (basements ) N‑COUNT The basement of a building is a floor built partly or completely below ground level. □  They bought an old schoolhouse to live in and built a workshop in the basement.

ba se me t|al (base metals ) N‑VAR A base metal is a metal such as copper, zinc, tin, or lead that is not a precious metal.

ba se rate (base rates ) N‑COUNT In Britain, the base rate is the rate of interest that banks use as a basis when they are calculating the rates that they charge on loans. [BUSINESS ] □  Bank base rates of 7 per cent are too high.

bases Pronounced /be I s I z/ for meaning 1 . Pronounced /be I siːz/ and hyphenated ba+ses for meaning 2 . 1 Bases is the plural of base .

2Bases is the plural of basis .

bash /bæ ʃ/ (bashes , bashing , bashed )

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