basement

Etymology

base +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪsmənt/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -eɪsmənt
• Hyphenation: base‧ment

Noun

basement (plural basements)

1. A floor of a building below ground level.
   • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, Nobody, chapter III:

     Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

2. (geology) A mass of igneous or metamorphic rock forming the foundation over which a platform of sedimentary rocks is laid.
3. (sports, informal) Last place in a sports conference standings.

Anagrams

• beatsmen