basket

[ bas-kit ]

noun

1. a container made of twigs, rushes, thin strips of wood, or other flexible material woven together.
2. a container made of pieces of thin veneer, used for packing berries, vegetables, etc.
3. the amount contained in a basket; a basketful:

   to pick a basket of apples.

4. anything like a basket in shape or use:

   He never empties my wastepaper basket.

5. any group of things or different things grouped as a unit; a package; package deal:

   You can't buy the single stock; you have to take the basket—all companies, stocks and bonds.

6. the car or gondola suspended beneath a balloon, as for carrying passengers or scientific instruments into the atmosphere.
7. Basketball.
   1. an open net suspended from a metal rim attached to the backboard and through which the ball must pass in order for a player to score points.
   2. a score, counting two for a field goal and one for a free throw.
8. Also called snow ring. Skiing. a ring strapped to the base of a ski pole to limit penetration of the pole in the snow.
9. Slang: Vulgar. the male genitals, especially when outlined by a tight-fitting garment.

basket

/ ˈbɑːskɪt /

noun

1. a container made of interwoven strips of pliable materials, such as cane, straw, thin wood, or plastic, and often carried by means of a handle or handles
2. Also calledbasketful the amount a basket will hold
3. something resembling such a container in appearance or function, such as the structure suspended from a balloon
4. basketball
   1. an open horizontal metal hoop fixed to the backboard, through which a player must throw the ball to score points
   2. a point or points scored in this way
5. a group or collection of similar of related things

   a basket of currencies

6. See bastard
   informal.
   a euphemism for bastard bastard
7. the list of items an internet shopper chooses to buy at one time from a website

   add these items to your basket

Other Words From

• bas·ket·like adjective
• un·bas·ket·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of basket¹

1250–1300; Middle English basket ( te ) < early Romance *baskauta (> French dialect bâchot, bachou wooden or interwoven vessel, Old High German baskiza box) < Latin bascauda basin, perhaps < British Celtic

Word History and Origins

Origin of basket¹

C13: probably from Old Northern French baskot (unattested), from Latin bascauda basketwork holder, of Celtic origin

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with basket , also see put all one's eggs in one basket .

Example Sentences

It comes with a capacity for a six-place setting plus a cutlery basket.

From Popular-Science

The 2013-14 Spurs beat LeBron’s Miami Heat via a kind of basketball hivemind, and the pre-Durant Warriors played similarly, just 10 extra feet from the basket.

From FiveThirtyEight

Once they manage to push him farther away from the basket, the Celtics do absolutely everything they can to ignore the non-shooters.

From FiveThirtyEight

In a supermarket, you could ogle the meat and produce yourself, even handle it, and then put it in your basket.

From Freakonomics

Remember, the researchers looked at a whole basket of social connections — all of which, by the way, can be measured more tangibly than loneliness.

From Freakonomics

Love means never having to say you're sorry... even if it leads to a gift basket.

From The Daily Beast

He was this wonderful, elegant man who thought the world was going to hell in a hand basket.

From The Daily Beast

He was duped into silly offensive fouls when smaller men moved in behind him as he powered toward the basket.

From The Daily Beast

But his greatest gifts remain in the classic pivot—close in with his back to the basket.

From The Daily Beast

If not for the writing and singing of songs, she might very well be a basket case.

From The Daily Beast

Here there was a scuffling sound in the basket, and the Roc rapped on the cover with her hard beak, and cried, "Hush!"

From Project Gutenberg

About her neck was hung a covered basket and a door-key; and Davy at once concluded that she was Sindbad's house-keeper.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the croupier tears open two packets of new cards, flinging the old ones into a waste-paper basket at his side.

From Project Gutenberg

When the days were fine, Jean in his basket assisted at the dramatic performance in the market-place.

From Project Gutenberg

Below the round thing hung a square basket, with many ropes, and other things, fast to it.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• box
• crate