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bash

[bash]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to strike with a crushing or smashing blow.
  2. Chiefly British, Canadian. to hurl harsh verbal abuse at.
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noun
  1. a crushing blow.
  2. Informal. a thoroughly enjoyable, lively party.
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Idioms
  1. have a bash (at), British. to attempt; make an attempt.
  2. on the bash, British. working as a prostitute.
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Origin of bash

First recorded in 1635–45; perhaps of expressive origin
Related formsbash·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bashes

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Now alone, Bathurst threw himself down among the bashes in an attitude of utter depression.

British Dictionary definitions for bashes

bash

verb
  1. (tr) to strike violently or crushingly
  2. (tr; often foll by in, down, etc) to smash, break, etc, with a crashing blowto bash a door down
  3. (intr foll by into) to crash (into); collide (with)to bash into a lamppost
  4. to dent or be dentedthis tin is bashed; this cover won't bash easily
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noun
  1. a heavy blow, as from a fist
  2. a dent; indentation
  3. a party
  4. have a bash informal to make an attempt
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See also bash up

Word Origin

C17: of uncertain origin
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

Word Origin and History for bashes

bash

n.

"a heavy blow," 1805, from bash (v.). Meaning "an attempt" is attested by 1948. On a bash "on a drunken spree" is slang from 1901, which gave the word its sense of "party."

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bash

v.

"to strike violently," 1640s, perhaps of Scandinavian origin, from Old Norse *basca "to strike" (cf. Swedish basa "to baste, whip, flog, lash," Danish baske "to beat, strike, cudgel"); or the whole group might be independently derived and echoic. Figurative sense of "abuse verbally or in writing" is from 1948. Related: Bashed; bashing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper