basement

[beys-muhnt]

noun

1. a story of a building, partly or wholly underground.

2. (in classical and Renaissance architecture) the portion of a building beneath the principal story, treated as a single compositional unit.

3. the lowermost portion of a structure.

4. the substructure of a columnar or arched construction.

basement

/ ˈbeɪsmənt /

noun

1. 1. a partly or wholly underground storey of a building, esp the one immediately below the main floor Compare cellar

   2. ( as modifier )

      a basement flat

2. the foundation or substructure of a wall or building

3. geology a part of the earth's crust formed of hard igneous or metamorphic rock that lies beneath the cover of soft sedimentary rock, sediment, and soil

Word History and Origins

Origin of basement¹

First recorded in 1720–30; base ¹ + -ment

Example Sentences

"But ultimately, they found him hiding in a crawl space. I believe that crawl space was in the basement … and he had put some thought and work into the hiding space he was in."

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Her father was a haberdasher and she later recalled sheltering from German bombs in the basement of his shop during the war.

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This battered two-story home with ominous scratches on the basement door has been in Todd’s family for six generations, as the cemetery out back proves.

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Spanish media report that emergency services issued a telephone alert to those covered by the red alert, with people urged to avoid flood-prone areas, including low-lying ground and basements.

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At one point they were held in basement cells with no windows for two months.

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Related Words

• cellar 
• storage 
• vault