bassinet
Americannoun
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bassinets
plural
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a basket with a hood over one end, for use as a baby's cradle.
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a style of perambulator resembling this.
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Armor. basinet.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bassinet
Explanation
A bassinet is a small basket used as a bed for a baby. A bassinet is portable, making it easy to carry the baby around. The et ending in bassinet is a clue that this is something small, specifically a small basket used for carrying a baby. The baby also can sleep in the bassinet. Like baby clothes, the bassinet will be quickly outgrown, but it's very helpful for awhile. A bassinet is a common present for a mother to receive at a baby shower. Awwww.
Vocabulary lists containing bassinet
A Raisin in the Sun
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The Ottoman Empire: Furniture Words
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Little Fires Everywhere
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Shen bought a used bassinet — which retails for $300 new — for $30, for example.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 14, 2026
Pictures of the new arrival included Poppy lying in a bassinet with their other children standing over her, as well as being held by Carrie, 37, and Boris Johnson, 60, in hospital.
From BBC ● May 24, 2025
A young couple strolled with their baby in a bassinet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2024
These infants were typically found in an adult bed, chair or couch instead of the crib or bassinet recommended by sleep experts.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2024
At night, when the light was out, Dad would reach over into the bassinet and stroke the baby’s hand.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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These tend to be the people buying $1,700 bassinets that rock their babies to sleep, artisanal food for their dogs, pricey gym memberships, luxury cruises and spots on business-class airplane cabins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
All of the other rooms contained empty beds and bassinets.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 17, 2023
The Baby Industrial Complex will convince you that you need six different kinds of bassinets, co-sleepers, etc.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2023
“We had bassinets in the back of the tour bus,” James said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2023
Judith leads us to a room that looks like a traditional hospital nursery, bassinets filled with sleeping or fussing babies.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.