basement

noun base·ment \ ˈbās-mənt \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

Examples: basement in a Sentence

Definition of basement

1 : the part of a building that is wholly or partly below ground level

2 : the ground floor facade or interior in Renaissance architecture

3 : the lowest or fundamental part of something; specifically : the rocks underlying stratified rocks

4 chiefly New England : a toilet or washroom especially in a school

5 a : a low state, rank, or condition

With their stock in the basement and red ink all over their balance sheet, many struggling [companies] are finding that fund-raising has become an exceedingly difficult proposition.
—Brad Stone

b : the lowest place in the standings : cellar 2

Last year, the Phillies finished in the basement of the NL East with 68 wins, tied with the Cubs for the fewest wins in the league.
—Boston Herald

—

basementless

play \-ləs\ adjective

See basement defined for English-language learners

See basement defined for kids

Examples of basement in a Sentence

we store our bicycles in the basement during the winter
the basement of the outdoor fountain needs a lot of restoration work

Recent Examples of basement from the Web

The body of a man was found buried in the basement in 1997.

— Longreads, "Viv Albertine on Dating Again in Her 50s," 15 June 2018
For a week, San Francisco political insiders huddled every afternoon in the bland basement of City Hall to get the latest vote counts in the mayor’s race, crunch data and make colorful precinct maps showing who was winning where.

— heather knight, San Francisco Chronicle, "It’s a really big deal that SF elected London Breed as mayor," 13 June 2018
There is a total of eight rooms on each of the three floors, plus a full basement.

— emma austin, The Courier-Journal, "This idyllic English garden is hiding in plain sight in Old Louisville," 7 June 2018
The Red Sox have finished first in the AL East for consecutive years after back-to-back seasons in the basement for two reasons: aggressive trade activity and good drafting.

— tim hackett, SI.com, "Boston Red Sox MLB Draft Picks: 2018 Round-by-Round Results," 4 June 2018
Matthew Lindquist, 21, planned to let Ruth Correa and her brother access the basement in his parents’ Griswold, Connecticut house.

— crystal hill, miamiherald, "Son plotted a staged robbery, affidavit says. Now he's dead — and so are his parents," 29 May 2018
The deputy arrived at the home at around 1:20 p.m. May 16, which was described as a double-wide manufactured home placed on a walk-out basement.

— kaitlyn schwers, kansascity, "2 kids missed school days, so a deputy went to the home. What he found led to charges | The Kansas City Star," 24 May 2018
Decades later, in 1981, the films were unearthed in a farmhouse basement by a local history teacher and antique collector named Michael Zahs.

— lily rothman, Time, "This Mysterious Long-Lost Film of the Brooklyn Bridge Wasn't Seen for a Century," 18 May 2018
In addition to the coal room door, the basement had two other doors, Katheryn Fong said.

— maria l. la ganga, idahostatesman, "A film about Boise's "Chinese tunnels" was tantalizing but had no sound. Until now. | Idaho Statesman," 18 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'basement.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.