baste

See also: Baste and basté

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /beɪst/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -eɪst
Homophone: based

Etymology 1

Late Middle English, from Old French bastir (“build, construct, sew up (a garment)”).

Verb

baste (third-person singular simple present bastes, present participle basting, simple past and past participle basted)

(transitive) To sew with long or loose stitches, as for temporary use, or in preparation for gathering the fabric.
- 1991 June 14, J.F. Pirro, “Custom Work”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:
  He bastes the coat together with thick white thread almost like string, using stitches big enough to be ripped out easily later.

Derived terms

baste up

Translations

sew with long or loose stitches

Bulgarian: тропосвам (troposvam)
Catalan: embastar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 假縫 / 假缝 (zh), 疏縫 / 疏缝
Czech: stehovat impf, nastehovat pf
Finnish: harsia (fi)
French: bâtir (fr), faufiler (fr)
Galician: ganduxar
German: heften (de)
Ido: imbastar (io)
Māori: tui rangitahi
Quechua: ch'uhtay
Romanian: însăila (ro)
Russian: смета́ть (ru) pf (smetátʹ), смётывать (ru) impf (smjótyvatʹ)
Spanish: hilvanar (es), embastar (es)
Swedish: tråckla (sv)
Tagalog: lagwatan, lagwatin
Yiddish: פֿאַסטריגעווען (fastrigeven)

Etymology 2

From Middle English basten, of uncertain etymon, possibly from Old French basser (“moisten, soak”), from bacin (“basin”).

Verb

baste (third-person singular simple present bastes, present participle basting, simple past and past participle basted)

(transitive) To sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting.
(transitive, by extension) To coat over something.
- 2001 April 20, Peter Margasak, “Almost Famous”, in Chicago Reader‎^[2]:
  Ice Cold Daydream" bastes the bayou funk of the Meters in swirling psychedelia, while "Sweet Thang," a swampy blues cowritten with his dad, sounds like something from Dr. John's "Night Tripper" phase.
(transitive) To mark (sheep, etc.) with tar.

Derived terms

baster

Translations

sprinkle and drip

Bulgarian: намазвам (bg) impf (namazvam), намажа pf (namaža)
Cebuano: humol
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: polévat šťávou impf, podlévat impf
Dutch: bedruipen (nl)
Finnish: valella (fi)
German: beizen (de), begießen (de)

Noun

baste (plural bastes)

A basting; a sprinkling of drippings etc. in cooking.
- 1876, The Odd Fellow's Companion:
  "Just like a leg of mutton being roasted before a slow fire without any one to give it a baste," groaned the old man.

Etymology 3

Perhaps from the cookery sense of baste or from some Scandinavian etymon. Compare Old Norse beysta (“to beat, thresh”) (whence Danish børste (“to beat up”)). Compare also Swedish basa (“to beat with a rod, to flog”) and Swedish bösta (“to thump”). Might be related to French bâton (“stick”) (formerly baston); English baton comes from bâton; see also French bastonnade (“the act of beating with a stick”).

Verb

baste (third-person singular simple present bastes, present participle basting, simple past and past participle basted)

(archaic, slang) To beat with a stick; to cudgel.
- July 1660, Samuel Pepys, Diaries
  One man was basted by the keeper for carrying some people over on his back through the waters.

Derived terms

Translations

(archaic, slang) beat with a stick

Bulgarian: пердаша (bg) (perdaša)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: piestä kepillä

References

[Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811), “Baste”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. […], London: […] C. Chappell, […], →OCLC.