bath

[bath, bahth]

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noun, plural baths [bath z, bahth z, baths, bahths] /bæðz, bɑðz, bæθs, bɑθs/.

a washing or immersion of something, especially the body, in water, steam, etc., as for cleansing or medical treatment: I take a bath every day. Give the dog a bath.

a quantity of water or other liquid used for this purpose: running a bath.

a container for water or other cleansing liquid, as a bathtub.

a room equipped for bathing; bathroom: The house has two baths.

a building containing rooms or apartments with equipment for bathing; bathhouse.

Often baths. one of the elaborate bathing establishments of the ancients: the baths of Caracalla.

Usually baths. a town or resort visited for medical treatment by bathing or the like; spa.

a preparation, as an acid solution, in which something is immersed.

the container for such a preparation.

a device for controlling the temperature of something by the use of a surrounding medium, as sand, water, oil, etc.

Metallurgy.

the depressed hearth of a steelmaking furnace.
the molten metal being made into steel in a steelmaking furnace.

the state of being covered by a liquid, as perspiration: in a bath of sweat.

verb (used with or without object), bathed, bath·ing. Chiefly British.

to wash or soak in a bath.

Idioms

take a bath, Informal. to suffer a large financial loss: Many investors are taking a bath on their bond investments.

Origin of bath

before 900; Middle English; Old English bæth; cognate with Old Frisian beth, Old Saxon, Old Norse bath, German Bad; < Germanic *bátha-n what is warmed, akin to Old High German bājan (German bähen), Swedish basa to warm; pre-Germanic *bheH- to warm, past participle *bhH-to-

Related formsbath·less, adjective

bath

[bath]

noun

a Hebrew unit of liquid measure, equal to a quantity varying between 10 and 11 U.S. gallons (38 and 42 liters).

Origin of bath

From Hebrew

Bath

[bath, bahth]

noun

a city in Avon, in SW England: mineral springs.

a seaport in SW Maine.

Baʿth

[bah-ahth]

noun

Baath.

Baath

or Baʿath, Baʿth

[bah-ahth]

noun

a socialist party of some Arab countries, especially Iraq and Syria.

Origin of Baath

From the Arabic word baʿath literally, renaissance

Related formsBa·ath·ism, nounBa·ath·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bath

shower, tub, toilet, bathroom, lavatory, restroom, sauna, gargle, soak, wash, ablution, dip, scrubbing, douche, soaking, cleansing, sponging, spa, washroom

Examples from the Web for bath

Contemporary Examples of bath

Then I see all those couples quarreling in Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
How to Make It Through Thanksgiving Alive
Lizzie Crocker
November 26, 2014
It was now safely back in its cage, although the chancellor sometimes let it play in the bath, he said.
Why 7 Times 8 Tripped Up the UK Chancellor
Tim Teeman
July 4, 2014
Just yesterday I claimed a local deli, a small poodle and a Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Bill O’Reilly, Muslim-Hunter
Dean Obeidallah
June 5, 2014
When John entertained he would fill the bath with ice and sprinkle blue food dye all over it.
When Downtown Was Cool: Mario Batali, Simon Doonan, Wynton Marsalis Remember the Good Old Days
The Daily Beast
April 10, 2014
But even he did not go so far as to talk about the Wife of Bath as though she were flesh and blood.
My Imaginary Literary Friends
Malcolm Jones
February 23, 2014

Historical Examples of bath

I was struck with the order of the bath: also the scimetary of the apartments.
Punchinello, Vol. 1. No. 20, August 13, 1870
Various
Surely those are not the steps that lead down toward the bath?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
Dick would be content if she went about in raiment made of dusters and bath towels.
Viviette
William J. Locke
On her way there she had overtaken Robin's wife wheeling Robin in a bath chair.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair
He ought to get her a proper servant and a man for the garden and the bath chair.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for bath

bath

noun plural baths (bɑːðz)

a large container, esp one made of enamelled iron or plastic, used for washing or medically treating the bodyRelated adjective: balneal

the act or an instance of washing in such a container

the amount of liquid contained in a bath

run a bath to turn on the taps to fill a bath with water for bathing oneself

(usually plural) a place that provides baths or a swimming pool for public use

a vessel in which something is immersed to maintain it at a constant temperature, to process it photographically, electrolytically, etc, or to lubricate it
the liquid used in such a vessel

verb

British to wash in a bath

Word Origin for bath

Old English bæth; compare Old High German bad, Old Norse bath; related to Swedish basa to clean with warm water, Old High German bāen to warm

bath

noun

an ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measure equal to about 8.3 Imperial gallons or 10 US gallons

Word Origin for bath

Hebrew

Bath

noun

a city in SW England, in Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, on the River Avon: famous for its hot springs; a fashionable spa in the 18th century; Roman remains, notably the baths; university (1966). Pop: 90 144 (2001)Latin name: Aquae Sulis (ˈækwiːˈsuːlɪs)

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 bath

Old English bæð "immersing in water, mud, etc.," also "quantity of water, etc., for bathing," from Proto-Germanic *batham (cf. Old Norse bað, Middle Dutch bat, German bad), from PIE root *bhe- "to warm" (cf. Latin fovere "to foment") + Germanic *-thuz suffix indicating "act, process, condition" (cf. birth, death). Original sense was of heating, not immersing in water. The city in Somerset, England (Old English Baðun) was so called from its hot springs. Bath salts attested from 1875 (Dr. Julius Braun, "On the Curative Effects of Baths and Waters").