basin

American  

[bey-suhn] / ˈbeɪ sən /

noun

• basins
  plural

1. a circular container with a greater width than depth, becoming smaller toward the bottom, used chiefly to hold water or other liquid, especially for washing.

2. any container of similar shape, as the pan of a balance.

3. the quantity held by such a container.

   We need another basin of water to dilute the mixture.

4. a natural or artificial hollow place containing water.

5. a partially enclosed, sheltered area along a shore, often partly man-made or dredged to a greater depth, where boats may be moored.

   a yacht basin.

6. Geology. an area in which the strata dip from the margins toward a common center.

7. Physical Geography.

   1. a hollow or depression in the earth's surface, wholly or partly surrounded by higher land.

      river basin.

   2. drainage basin.

8. Botany. the depression in an apple, pear, or other pome at the end opposite the stem.

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basin British  

/ ˈbeɪsən /

noun

1. a round container open and wide at the top with sides sloping inwards towards the bottom or base, esp one in which liquids are mixed or stored

2. Also called: basinful.  the amount a basin will hold

3. a washbasin or sink

4. any partially enclosed or sheltered area where vessels may be moored or docked

5. the catchment area of a particular river and its tributaries or of a lake or sea

6. a depression in the earth's surface

7. geology a part of the earth's surface consisting of rock strata that slope down to a common centre

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basin Scientific  

/ bā′sĭn /

1. A region drained by a river and its tributaries.

2. A low-lying area on the Earth's surface in which thick layers of sediment have accumulated. Some basins are bowl-shaped while others are elongate. Basins form through tectonic processes, especially in fault-bordered intermontane areas or in areas where the Earth's crust has warped downwards. They are often a source of valuable oil.

3. An artificially enclosed area of a river or harbor designed so that the water level remains unaffected by tidal changes.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subbasin
  noun
• basinal
  adjective
• basined
  adjective
• basinlike
  adjective
• interbasin
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• basins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of basin

1175–1225; Middle English bacin < Old French < Late Latin bac ( c ) īnum ( bacc ( a ) water vessel, back ³ + -īnum -ine ¹ ); perhaps further related in Latin to beaker

Explanation

A basin is a container that holds water and is used for washing, but you probably just call it your bathroom sink. You can think of basinas something shaped like a bowl. If you're going for an old-fashioned ring, say "wash basin." If you’re in England, you might use a basin for cooking. The word basin also has various geological senses, particularly a depression in the ground or ocean floor. A basin is also the spot where a river drains — like the famed Mississippi River Basin. That’s one big bowl!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

basin basins

Each of the riders covers upward of 30 miles a day to treat every catch basin in the city’s urban and suburban areas, about 75,000 total, over the course of a month.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

North Wales and the Upper Severn river basin entered drought conditions last week, Natural Resources Wales said.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Temperatures will be in the 80s and 90s in the basin and could top 100 in inland valleys.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Officials have forecast a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season this year, which runs from June 1 to November 30, because of the return of El Nino conditions that suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

I couldn’t bend over a drinking fountain and take medication that way; I either choked or accidentally spit my pills all over the basin.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

Communities in the western Hill Country region should prepare for the possibility of flash floods with catastrophic river flooding possible in the Nueces, Frio and Medina river basins, the weather service said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

"The crystallisation basins are covered by grass and sheath and so on. This is not the landscape that usually salinas are," she said, explaining the changes to the area that saltwork pumping created.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

Salt production began in Ulcinj almost a century ago, when the natural lagoon was transformed into a network of shallow evaporating basins.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

Although scientists have studied many of these basins individually for years, this is the first time they have been recognized as parts of a single, interconnected geological structure.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026

The children carried small basins or pulled smaller children along.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• bowl
• lagoon
• pan
• pool
• pot
• tub
• valley
• watershed