bedrock

[ bed-rok ]

/ ˈbɛdˌrɒk /

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.

RELATED WORDS

ground, substratum, base, bottom

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
“To minimize sprawl” has become a bedrock catchphrase of the core political ideology.
The Progressives’ War on Suburbia|Joel Kotkin|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Freedom will seep into the bedrock as we rediscover our backbone.
Market Leninism vs. the West|John Avlon|March 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
In a world of insecurity and change it is good to have one bedrock certainty upon which the mind can rest.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 153, Oct. 17, 1917|Various
"That's the bedrock of all the trouble on the earth," interrupted the Harvester.
The Harvester|Gene Stratton Porter
All superficial accumulations were swept away, and the bedrock was exposed.
A Tramp Abroad, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
You fetch a person down to the bedrock, as Grandsir Penlyn used to say, and then they know where they be.
The Children's Book of Thanksgiving Stories|Various
One reaches the bedrock of French's curiously sane conception of war when one asks him to define war.
Sir John French|Cecil Chisholm

British Dictionary definitions for bedrock

bedrock

/ (ˈbɛdˌrɒk) /

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