bass

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“
You must tune from the bass, for the bass is the basis of music.

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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)

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Examples (50)

  • Its seething, prankish, nimble, bubbling quality is indicated from the start; the D natural in the treble against the C and E flat—the dominant—in the bass is a most original effect, and the flowing triplets of the first part of this piece give a ductile, gracious, high-bred character to it. —  Chopin: The Man and His Music
  • Man, you hear Beck's "Where It's At" on the oldies radio, and it's not quite right, the bass is adjusted wrong in the rental car or something, or they talk over the fade. —  Sock
  • Black sea bass is a great choice when your guests are picky eaters. —  WN.com - Articles related to De Niro and the Celebrity Restaurant Curse
  • And on some songs, e.g., most RHCP, the bass is actually more interesting than guitar. —  Original Signal - Transmitting Digg
  • If your bass is around 350g chop it into four but if it is considerable then cut it into six. —  The Guardian World News
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This word has been looked up 121 times.

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

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

guitar ·  baritone ·  tenor ·  piano ·  violin ·  trout ·  trumpet ·  drum ·  mackerel ·  vocal ·  soprano ·  trombone

Used in the same contextWord Family

bass:   basses
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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