bottom

1 of 3

noun

bot·​tom ˈbä-təm 

1

a

: the underside of something

at the bottom of the box

a cut on the bottom of her foot

The vase is signed on the bottom.

b

: a surface (such as the seat of a chair) designed to support something resting on it

—used figuratively in phrases like the bottom dropped out to describe a sudden collapse or downturn

lost millions when the bottom dropped out of the stock market

c

: buttocks, rump

a baby with a rash on his bottom

2

: the surface on which a body of water lies

sank to the bottom of the ocean

3

nautical

a

: the part of a ship's hull lying below the water

b

: boat, ship

cargo … carried by foreign bottoms

—Virginia A. Oakes

4

a

: the lowest part or place

the bottom of the page

stood at the bottom of the stairs

b

: the remotest or inmost point

sail to the bottom of the bay

c

: the lowest or last place in rank or position

The CEO started at the bottom and worked her way up.

graduated at the bottom of the class

the bottom of the pay scale

d

clothing : the part of a garment worn on the lower part of the body

white tops and navy blue bottoms

a bikini bottom

especially : the pants of pajamas

—usually used in plural

e

baseball : the last half of an inning

the bottom of the ninth

f

music : the bass or baritone instruments of a band

5

geography : bottomland

—usually used in plural

the Mississippi river bottoms

6

: basis, source

trying to get to the bottom of these rumors

7

: capacity (as of a horse) to endure strain

a breed of dogs outstanding for bottom

8

textiles : a foundation color applied to fibers before dyeing

9

physics : a fundamental quark that accounts for the existence and lifetime of upsilon particles and has an electric charge of −¹/₃ and a measured energy of approximately 5 GeV

also : the flavor (see flavor entry 1 sense 4b) characterizing this particle

bottomed

ˈbä-təmd 

adjective

bottom

2 of 3

verb

bottomed; bottoming; bottoms

transitive verb

1

: to furnish (something, such as a chair) with a bottom

2

: to provide a foundation for

men who wanted to bottom the dreams of the Romantics

—Bonamy Dobrée

3

: to bring to the bottom

bottomed the submarine on the ocean floor

4

: to find the basis or source of (something, such as a rumor) : to get to the bottom (see bottom entry 1 sense 6) of

The mystery hasn't been bottomed.

intransitive verb

1

: to become based or grounded

find on what foundation any proposition bottoms

—John Locke

2

: to reach the bottom

bottoming on the sea floor

3

: to reach a point where a decline is halted or reversed

—usually used with out

The team bottomed out in last place.

bottomer noun

bottom

3 of 3

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or situated at the bottom (see bottom entry 1)

bottom rock

2

: frequenting the lowest part or place : frequenting the bottom

bottom fish

Phrases

at bottom

: really, basically

It is, at bottom, a love song.

Synonyms

Noun

• underbelly
• underbody
• underpart
• underside
• undersurface

Adjective

• bottommost
• low
• lowermost
• nethermost
• rock-bottom
• undermost

Examples of bottom in a Sentence

Noun

We sailed to the bottom of the bay.

the bottom of the garden

The poor baby has a rash all over his little bottom.

The company's new CEO started at the bottom and worked her way up.

Why do I always find myself rooting for the team at the bottom of the league?

at the bottom of the pay scale

Adjective

the bottom rung of the ladder

Somebody's fingerprints are all along the bottom edge of the photograph.

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Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Davis launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth off Guardians right-hander Eli Morgan that tied the score at 5-5. —Joe Noga, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2023

Despite huge payrolls and championship aspirations at the start of the baseball season, the Mets and Yankees are mired at or near the bottom of their divisions. —Christopher Maag, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2023

There’s an opening in the bottom for a candle (with a real flame or flameless), and its light will shine through the gaps all around the luminary—imagine the glow on a dark October evening. —Sarah Wolf Halverson, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Sep. 2023

The Cubs survived an adventurous outing in the bottom of the ninth from Michael Fulmer, who recovered from a one-out walk and hit batter to strike out the next two batters to secure the 5-4 victory. —Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023

Northwest Arkansas leads that game 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth. —Paul Boyd, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2023

Its water jets agitated the river bottom before pumping the sediment through a floating pipe that snaked downriver – and to shore. —USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2023

Mere footnotes at the bottom of Brady’s pigskin curriculum vitae. —Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2023

Transfer to pan, spreading evenly, and pack down flat with the bottom of a measuring cup. —Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 10 Sep. 2023

Verb

Back in February, Zillow’s housing economists made a bold call that U.S. home prices had bottomed and would proceed to climb 0.5% over the next 12 months. —Lance Lambert, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2023

But many analysts expect the slumping growth rates to bottom by midyear, and even start improving in the back half. —Dan Gallagher, WSJ, 11 Apr. 2023

Getty Images Just as national home prices were bottoming in early 2012 following the crash that started in 2007, institutional buyer Invitation Homes (owned by Blackstone at the time) was entering the U.S. housing market and looking for deals at rock-bottom prices. —Lance Lambert, Fortune, 27 July 2023

Does that mean that home prices have essentially bottomed? —Lance Lambert, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2023

Several firms think national house prices have bottomed, including the AEI Housing Center, CoreLogic, and Zillow. —Lance Lambert, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2023

By the time national prices bottom in 2024, Morningstar expects house prices to be down between 4% to 6% from the peak. —Lance Lambert, Fortune, 15 July 2023

Following the global financial crisis of 2008, views about the economy did not truly improve until about 2012 — even though economic growth technically bottomed in the spring of 2009. —Rob Wile, NBC News, 14 July 2023

Historically, the market bottoms roughly four months before unemployment hits its highest level in a recession, according to Bank of America analysts. —Eric Wallerstein, WSJ, 1 June 2023

Adjective

In the bottom map of the trio above, the green spattered across the central US indicates up to a 30 percent rise in precipitation between the two time frames. —WIRED, 20 Sep. 2023

Electrons first fill the bottom floors—the lowest energy locations—until all electrons have a room. —Tracy H. Schloemer, IEEE Spectrum, 19 Sep. 2023

Boan and Flynn said the alligator probably ate by scooping smaller animals into the bottom half of its mouth. —Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2023

Her fingers were black, her feet were black, her bottom lip was black. —Cara Lynn Shultz, Peoplemag, 18 Sep. 2023

The unit itself is crafted of particleboard and MDF, and the three bottom compartments offer ample storage for audio and video equipment. —Rena Behar, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Sep. 2023

The bottom edge holds a USB-C port for charging and connecting to a computer, two grilles (but only one speaker), and a pinhole microphone. —PCMAG, 18 Sep. 2023

The cutout detailing at the top chest and very bottom hem are excellent details accompanying the ombre effect. —Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 18 Sep. 2023

Between the first drips that form when your cone hits the sunlight and the last bite of frozen sweetness lodged into the bottom recesses of the cone is a metaphor for life itself: messy, delicious and gone far too soon. —Lucas Kwan Peterson, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English botme, botom, bothom, going back to Old English botm, *boðm, going back to Germanic *butma- (whence, with varying dental consonants, Old Saxon bođom "ground, bottom," Old High German bodam, Old Norse botn), going back to Indo-European *b^hud^h-mḗn, *b^hud^h-mn-ós, whence also Greek pythmḗn "bottom, ground, base," Sanskrit budhná- and (with metathesis of stop and nasal) Latin fundus "bottom, base," Middle Irish bonn "sole of the foot"

Verb

derivative of bottom entry 1

Adjective

from attributive use of bottom entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1544, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Adjective

1561, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing bottom

• bottom drawer
• be/lie at the bottom of
• bottom-fishing
• bottom gear
• at the bottom of the pile
• bottom-feeder
• bottom out
• at the bottom/top of the heap
• the bottom drops/falls out
• at the bottom of one's/the class
• get to the bottom of
• bottom-up
• the bottom of the barrel
• from the bottom of one's heart
• bottom surgery
• bottom round
• rock bottom
• false bottom
• hit bottom
• scrape bottom
• bottom line
• from top to bottom
• hit/reach rock bottom
• at bottom

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• bottom drawer
• be/lie at the bottom of
• bottom-fishing
• bottom gear
• at the bottom of the pile
• bottom-feeder
• bottom out
• at the bottom/top of the heap
• the bottom drops/falls out
• at the bottom of one's/the class
• get to the bottom of
• bottom-up
• the bottom of the barrel
• from the bottom of one's heart
• bottom surgery
• bottom round
• rock bottom
• false bottom
• hit bottom
• scrape bottom
• bottom line
• from top to bottom
• hit/reach rock bottom
• at bottom

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Kids Definition

bottom

1 of 2 noun

bot·​tom ˈbät-əm 

1

a

: the undersurface of something

b

: a supporting surface or part : base

c

: buttock sense 2a, rump

2

: the surface on which a body of water lies

3

a

: the part of a ship's hull lying below the water

b

: boat entry 1 sense 1, ship

4

: the lowest part, place, or point

the bottom of the page

5

: the part of a garment worn on the lower part of the body

especially : the trousers of pajamas

—usually used in plural

6

: lowland along a river

the Mississippi River bottoms

7

: the most basic or central part : heart

get to the bottom of the problem

8

: the last half of an inning of baseball

bottomed

-əmd 

adjective

bottom

2 of 2 verb

1

: to provide a foundation for

2

: to rest on, bring to, or reach the bottom