Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the game of solo, the queen of spades, which is always the third trump.
  • Enough! stop! (a term not uncommon in old dramatists).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • interjection Enough; stop.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection obsolete (that's) enough!; stop!

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Italian

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Examples

  • Call the basta out...1.866.311.3405 or 1.866.338.1015

    Crooks and Liars scarce 2011

  • Another fine example of a major research institution saying "basta" or maybe "Es ist genug", since it's the Max Planck Society to price gouging by scientific publishers:

    Archive 2007-10-01 glyn moody 2007

  • She grants the encore no less unevenly as before after which surprisingly there is more applause from the gallery. "basta" enough cries the audience in the orchestra, "brava" cries the gallery.

    Wait a Minute 1 Dinosaur 2007

  • Another fine example of a major research institution saying "basta" or maybe "Es ist genug", since it's the Max Planck Society to price gouging by scientific publishers:

    Springer Told to Spring Off glyn moody 2007

  • Mastroianni depicts Cefalú's breakthrough, in one of the virtuosic scenes of his career, by repeating the world "basta" approximately two dozen times, each with a different inflection, rising from weak self-pity to firm resolution.

    Basta! Ann Althouse 2005

  • Nardac gets extra points, it is, in fact, thought to be derived from the Italian, "basta".

    An exciting opportunity to use “avast” at the dinner table tonight 2005

  • And indeed a less inexperienced rider might well have been excused a shade of nervousness, for the road was often steep, and often skirted the brink of very unpleasant-looking precipices; while the promised "basta," destitute alike of rail and pommel, proved to be neither more nor less than a bundle of cushions and sheepskins strapped upon a man's saddle, with no real support save a stirrup.

    Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys 1873

  • At home, my mother, Iman, a beauty icon and devotee of clean eating, would whisper "basta" ( "enough" in Italian) when I was in danger of overeating.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

  • 'An overweight kid and already dining for sport, my first was the "basta" diet.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

  • 'An overweight kid and already dining for sport, my first was the "basta" diet.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

Comments

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  • Sense of CD 1 is from Italian.

    April 23, 2011