bast

[ bast ]

noun
  1. Botany. phloem.

  2. Also called bast fiber. any of several strong, woody fibers, as flax, hemp, ramie, or jute, obtained from phloem tissue and used in the manufacture of woven goods and cordage.

Origin of bast

1
before 900; Middle English; Old English bæst; cognate with Dutch, German, Old Norse bast; perhaps ultimately cognate with Latin fascis bundle. See bass3

Words Nearby bast

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bast in a sentence

  • In a kibitka covered with bast, drawn by three lean and sleepy nags, Raisky drove slowly to his estate.

    The Precipice | Ivan Goncharov
  • On the bast they saw the rings all drawn, seven hundred, which the warrior owned.

  • The next day he filled his pouch with corn, put a bundle of bast-twine in his boat, and once more set off to the giant's dwelling.

  • Besides the linen, there is a great number of bast fibers fit for textile purposes, some superior, some inferior.

    Textiles and Clothing | Kate Heintz Watson
  • The erection was completed by the casting across several strings of bast, weighted at the ends with stones, which kept all steady.

    Cedar Creek | Elizabeth Hely Walshe

British Dictionary definitions for bast

bast

/ (bæst) /


noun
  1. Also called: bass fibrous material obtained from the phloem of jute, hemp, flax, lime, etc, used for making rope, matting, etc

  2. botany another name for phloem

Origin of bast

1
Old English bæst; related to Old Norse, Middle High German bast

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012