bass

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“
One of the aspects of Mozart on the modern piano that I find the most disturbing is the fact that what is invariably heard when going down into the bass is a decrescendo, in my opinion just the opposite of what the music requires.

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Definitions (77)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. noun Any of several North American freshwater fishes of the family Centrarchidae, related to but larger than the sunfishes.
  2. noun Any of various marine fishes of the family Serranidae, such as the sea bass and the striped bass.
  3. noun A low-pitched sound or tone.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (51)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

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Examples

  • The continuing thumping of his bass was at least her guarantee of privacy. —  The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
  • One of the aspects of Mozart on the modern piano that I find the most disturbing is the fact that what is invariably heard when going down into the bass is a decrescendo, in my opinion just the opposite of what the music requires. —  Early Music: An Exchange
  • Sound very loud, very powerful and perfectly mixed (in particular, the bass was awesome). —  FallNews - Hey Peasants!
  • You must tune from the bass, for the bass is the basis of music. —  Mushrooms on the Moor
  • "The one who plays the bass, she thinks the bass is the bomb. —  NY1 - Top Stories
 

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Bass has been looked up 258 times, favorited 0 times, listed 25 times, and commented on 4 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

guitar ·  baritone ·  tenor ·  piano ·  violin ·  trout ·  trumpet ·  drum ·  mackerel ·  vocal ·  soprano ·  trombone
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (9)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English *bars, perch, from Old English bærs.
  2. Middle English bas, lowest musical part, from bas, low; see base2.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (7)

  1. Early modern English bas, base, from Middle English base, bace, a corruption of barse: see barse.
  2. A corruption of bast, q. v.
  3. Also and more properly base (the spelling bass being modern, after Italian basso, and the pron. being that of base), from Middle English base, bace, bas, from Old French bas, feminine basse, low: see base.
  4. from buss, n.
  5. Origin uncertain; perhaps for base (formerly also bas), coal.
  6. from late Middle English basse; cf. Old French baisier, modern F. baiser, from Latin basiare, kiss, from basium, a kiss. Cf. ba and buss.
  7. from Middle English basse, a kiss; prob. from the verb; cf. Latin basium, a kiss.
 

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/beɪs/
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