bask
[bask, bahsk]
- to lie in or be exposed to a pleasant warmth: to bask in the sunshine.
- to enjoy a pleasant situation: He basked in royal favor.
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- Obsolete. to expose to warmth or heat.
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Origin of bask
1350–1400; Middle English < Old Norse bathask to bathe oneself, equivalent to bath- bath1 + -ask reflexive suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for basking
Contemporary Examples
Not coincidentally, his weekly is basking in the spotlight—and racking up huge sales—while performing this “service.”
But the separatists continue to think they are basking in the glory of their accomplishment.
Lewis was enormously pleased with himself, basking in the attention from the New York media.
Taken all together, Election Day has progressives “basking in the glow,” as Ellison puts it.
Occasionally, Axwell raises his hands high in the air like an electro conductor, basking in his power over the crowd.
Historical Examples
To be with Evelyn was like basking in the sunshine of some happy sky!
Alice, or The Mysteries, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
He was basking in the frankly admiring gaze of Miss Knowles.
Out of the DepthsRobert Ames Bennet
We meet them in the shade of the woods, and have to pass them basking on the sea-shore.
The Hour and the ManHarriet Martineau
And I resented his basking thus openly in the fires of martyrdom.
The Prairie MotherArthur Stringer
Also, a name in the south for the basking shark, from its habit of lying in the sunshine.
The Sailor's Word-BookWilliam Henry Smyth
bask
- to lie in or be exposed to pleasant warmth, esp that of the sun
- to flourish or feel secure under some benevolent influence or favourable condition
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Word Origin
C14: from Old Norse bathask to bathe
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for basking
adj.
1742, present participle adjective from bask (v.). Basking shark is recorded from 1769.
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bask
v.
late 14c., basken "to wallow (in blood)," with loss of middle syllable, from Old Norse baðask "to bathe oneself," reflexive of baða "bathe" (see bathe). Modern meaning "soak up a flood of warmth" is apparently due to Shakespeare's use of the word in reference to sunshine in "As You Like It" (1600). Related: Basked; basking.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper