ba·sinI. \ˈbās
ən\
noun(
-s)
Etymology: Middle English
basin, from Old French
bacin, from Late Latin
bacchinon, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin
bacca water vessel, perhaps of non-Indo-European origin; akin to the source of Latin
baca berry — more at
bay
1. a. : an open usually circular vessel or dish with sloping or curving sides and wider than its depth used typically for holding water for washing
b. : a container of similar shape: as
(1) : the scalepan of a balance
(2) : a tank or reservoir used for the treatment of liquids
c. : the quantity contained in a basin
2. a. (1) : a dock built in a tidal river or harbor and used especially for ships discharging or loading cargo, floodgates serving to keep the water level constant
< constructing ships in basins resembling drydocks from which they float out on completion — Time > (2) : a part of a river or canal widened and provided with wharves
b. (1) : a water area enclosed or partly enclosed by land and suitable for anchorage of ships
: a landlocked harbor
: a little bay
< a basin … provides mooring space for eighty yachts — American Guide Series: Maryland > (2) : a water area artificially enclosed or partly enclosed (as by jetties) that is designed to shelter small craft
< rates for mooring boats at boat basins — New York Herald Tribune >3. a. (1) : a large or small depression in the surface of the land, the lowest part often being occupied by a lake or pond
< the basin of Lake Michigan > (2) : a similar depression in the ocean floor
< some 2000 fathoms down, but it still separates broad eastern and western basins — R.E.Coker > b. : an area that does not drain to the ocean
c. : an area largely enclosed by higher lands but having an outlet and being drained
< the Big Horn basin > d. : the entire tract of country drained by a river and its tributaries — called also
river basin < appropriations for flood control in the Missouri basin — New Republic > e. : a great depression in the surface of the lithosphere occupied by an ocean
< the basin now filled by the Pacific ocean — Waldemar Kaempffert > — called also
ocean basin4. a. : a broad area of the earth beneath which the strata dip usually from the sides toward the center
< the Richmond coal basin > — called also
structural basin, synclinal basin b. : a depression of the earth in which sedimentary materials accumulate or have accumulated usually characterized by continuous deposition over a long period of time
< a salt basin > c. : rocks of such composition and having such structural and topographic relations as to facilitate the presence of artesian water
< an artesian basin >5. : the depression at the apex of an apple or similar fruit
6. a. : an area enclosed so as to be flooded for subsequent cultivation
< a basin for irrigation > b. : a hollow or enclosure made about the base of a tree to receive water for moistening the roots
c. : a small depression or pocket made (as with a basin lister) in a field to check water runoff
II. verb(
basined ;
basined ;
basining \-s(
ə)niŋ\ ;
basins)
transitive verb: to bend down (a part of the earth's crust) in the form of a basin
< the rocky surface of Greenland is actually basined as if by the weight of the existing icecap — R.A.Daly >intransitive verb: to form a basin by erosion