bedrock

[bed-rok]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bedrock ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Geology. unbroken solid rock, overlaid in most places by soil or rock fragments.

bottom layer; lowest stratum.

any firm foundation or basis: Technical courses will be founded on a bedrock of sound, general education so as to produce a well-rounded engineer.

the fundamental principles, as of a teaching, belief, or science: Let's strip away the cant and get down to bedrock.

adjective

basic; fundamental.

Origin of bedrock

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; bed + rock¹

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

Related Words for bedrock

ground, substratum, base, bottom

Examples from the Web for bedrock

Contemporary Examples of bedrock

So we know that boring down to the bedrock and pumping it full of fluid can cause earthquakes.
26 Earthquakes Later, Fracking’s Smoking Gun Is in Texas
James Joiner
January 7, 2015
“To minimize sprawl” has become a bedrock catchphrase of the core political ideology.
The Progressives’ War on Suburbia
Joel Kotkin
November 16, 2014
Freedom will seep into the bedrock as we rediscover our backbone.
Market Leninism vs. the West
John Avlon
March 30, 2014
“We know more about Bedrock than we do about most other vineyards on account of the people who owned it,” Peterson explained.
The Pleasures of America’s Oldest Vines
Jordan Salcito
February 22, 2014
The Constitution of the United States has been the bedrock upon which our country was built over the past 225 years.
The ‘Defining Issue of Our Time’ Is Obama’s Constitutional Excesses
Ron Christie
January 9, 2014

Historical Examples of bedrock

Such a belief was indeed the bedrock of mediaeval political thought.
Progress and History
Various
All superficial accumulations were swept away, and the bedrock was exposed.
A Tramp Abroad, Complete
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The bedrock on which they fought was slippery where ice had formed in the crevices.
A Man to His Mate
J. Allan Dunn
Here was always the reminder of that bedrock principle of his thought.
Ruskin Relics
W. G. Collingwood
He is going, said Old Mole, to discover the bedrock of life and live on it.
Old Mole
Gilbert Cannan

British Dictionary definitions for bedrock

bedrock

noun

the solid unweathered rock that lies beneath the loose surface deposits of soil, alluvium, etc

basic principles or facts (esp in the phrase get down to bedrock)

the lowest point, level, or layer

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 bedrock

also bed-rock, 1850, from bed (n.) + rock (n.). Figurative use by 1869; as an adjective by 1881.

bedrock in Science

bedrock

[bĕd′rŏk′]

The solid rock that lies beneath the soil and other loose material on the Earth's surface.