ground bass
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ground bass
First recorded in 1690–1700
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.
Yet Johnson’s overall sprightliness covers a ground bass of melancholy and lament.
From Washington Post • Jul. 22, 2020
The Baroque chaconne used a recurring element, often a ground bass, as a hook for variations.
From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2013
The author is above all a psychologist, and many of her stories bypass the racial issue�though that dark ground bass can be felt even when it is not heard.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the raucous swallows, the woman’s droning commands, the ground bass of the machinery mesmerized her.
From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen
It is generally accompanied by doubles or variations, and is invariably written on a ground bass or basso ostinato.
From Critical and Historical Essays Lectures delivered at Columbia University by Baltzell, W. J. (Winton James)
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.
