basic
[bey-sik]
- of, relating to, or forming a base; fundamental: a basic principle; the basic ingredient.
- Chemistry.
- Metallurgy. noting, pertaining to, or made by a steelmaking process (basic process) in which the furnace or converter is lined with a basic or nonsiliceous material, mainly burned magnesite and a small amount of ground basic slag, to remove impurities from the steel.Compare acid(def 9).
- Geology. (of a rock) having relatively little silica.
- Military.
- primary: basic training.
- of lowest rank: airman basic.
- Slang.
- (especially of a female) characterized by predictable or unoriginal style, interests, or behavior: those basic girls who follow trends.
- (of things) boringly predictable or unoriginal: His lyrics are just so basic.
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- Military.
- basic training.
- a soldier or airman receiving basic training.
- Often basics. something that is fundamental or basic; an essential ingredient, principle, procedure, etc.: to learn the basics of music; to get back to basics.
- Slang. a person, especially a female, who is boringly predictable or unoriginal.
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Origin of basic
Synonyms
See more synonyms for basic on Thesaurus.com1. elementary, essential, key, primary; basal; underlying.
BASIC
[bey-sik]
- a widely adopted programming language that uses English words, punctuation marks, and algebraic notation to facilitate communication between the operator or lay user and the computer.
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Origin of BASIC
1965–70; B(eginner's) A(ll-purpose) S(ymbolic) I(nstruction) C(ode)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for basics
Contemporary Examples
The men use the dolls to practice the basics of caring for babies.
Despite the obvious ongoing problems with disease and access to basics, the future of Africa is bright.
The Spire, like most fountains, has the basics -- Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Brisk Iced Tea and SoBe Lifewater.
Font of InventionSeptember 18, 2014
It may be time to kick these new age diet fads and get back to basics.
Helen Mirren Trains Like the Air Force; Kendall Jenner Denied Kim Kardashian at Her ShowsThe Fashion Beast Team
July 29, 2014
But the new one has just got all the basics, the solid foundation, it stays afloat.
Historical Examples
But they either can't, or won't, take the time to learn the basics of the field they want to excel in.
By ProxyGordon Randall Garrett
Production of the basics had become so profuse that poverty in the old sense of the word had become nonsensical.
MercenaryDallas McCord Reynolds
We must keep that edge, and to do so we need to begin renewing the basics--starting with our educational system.
All skills begin with the basics of reading and math, which are supposed to be learned in the early grades of our schools.
This nation will not go back to the days of simply shuffling children along from grade to grade without them learning the basics.
basic
- of, relating to, or forming a base or basis; fundamental; underlying
- elementary or simplea few basic facts
- excluding additions or extrasbasic pay
- chem
- of, denoting, or containing a base; alkaline
- (of a salt) containing hydroxyl or oxide groups not all of which have been replaced by an acid radicalbasic lead carbonate, 2PbCO 3 .Pb ( OH ) 2
- metallurgy of, concerned with, or made by a process in which the furnace or converter is made of a basic material, such as magnesium oxide
- (of such igneous rocks as basalt) containing between 52 and 45 per cent silica
- military primary or initialbasic training
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- (usually plural) a fundamental principle, fact, etc
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BASIC
Basic
- a computer programming language that uses common English terms
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Word Origin
C20: acronym of b (eginner's) a (ll-purpose) s (ymbolic) i (nstruction) c (ode)
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 basics
basic
BASIC
computer language, 1964, initialism for Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code; invented by Hungarian-born U.S. computer scientist John G. Kemeny (1926-1992) and U.S. computer scientist Thomas E. Kurtz (b.1928).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
basic
(bā′sĭk)- Of, being, or serving as a starting point or basis.
- Producing, resulting from, or relating to a base.
- Containing a base, especially in excess of acid.
- Containing oxide or hydroxide anions.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
BASIC
[bā′sĭk]
- A simple programming language developed in the 1960s that is widely taught to students as a first programming language.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.