Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To beat vigorously; thrash.
  • transitive verb To scold; berate.
  • transitive verb To moisten (meat, for example) periodically with a liquid, such as melted butter or a sauce, especially while cooking.
  • transitive verb To sew loosely with large running stitches so as to hold together temporarily.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To moisten (meat that is being roasted or baked) with melted fat, gravy, etc., to improve the flavor or prevent burning.
  • To mark (sheep) with tar.
  • To beat with a stick; thrash; cudgel.
  • To sew slightly; fasten together with long stitches, as the parts of a garment, for trying on or fitting, or for convenience in handling during the process of making.
  • noun In card-playing, same as beast, 7.

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

  • transitive verb To sew loosely, or with long stitches; -- usually, that the work may be held in position until sewed more firmly.
  • transitive verb To beat with a stick; to cudgel.
  • transitive verb (Cookery) To sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting.
  • transitive verb Prov. Eng. To mark with tar, as sheep.

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

  • verb To sew with wide stitches.
  • verb To sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting.
  • verb by extension To coat over something
  • verb obsolete, slang To beat.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb strike violently and repeatedly
  • noun a loose temporary sewing stitch to hold layers of fabric together
  • verb sew together loosely, with large stitches
  • verb cover with liquid before cooking

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse beysta; see bhau- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English basten.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English basten, from Old French bastir, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French bastir ("build, construct, sew up (a garment)").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown, possibly from Old French basser ("moisten, soak").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps from the cookery sense of baste or from some Scandinavian source. Compare Old Norse beysta ("to beat, thresh") (whence Danish børste ("to beat up"))

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Examples

  • During baking, occasionally "baste" the apples, _i. e._ take spoonfuls of the water from around the apples and pour it on the top of them.

    School and Home Cooking Carlotta Cherryholmes Greer

  • Danielson remembers visiting over the next few weeks to "baste" the ends of the canoe that stuck out of the sand.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2010

  • The bacon helps to 'baste' the chicken while it cooks.

    We Blog A Lot 2008

  • I just didn't want to deal with it, so I stubbornly ignored it. of course, once I finally forced myself to sew it, it took less than an hour. the trick was to use double sided tape to "baste" it. then I pinned the hell out of it and sewed it with no fear. you can't have fear because the sewing machine can smell fear. it'll eat your fabric or make your zipper wonky at any sign of weakness. besides the zipper, I loved working on this sweater. the pattern was straight forward and the cable pattern kept my interest throughout.

    bitter purl 2009

  • "baste," as cook calls him, knows it just as well as the other name, -- any way, he answers to it just as readily.

    We Ten Or, The Story of the Roses Barbara Yechton 1901

  • "baste," he boasted, did credit to the "ould counthry:" for although no beauty, he was the cleverest and bravest of all the dogs, and much attached to him.

    Hendricks the Hunter The Border Farm, a Tale of Zululand William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • When you next baste the duck, turn the potatoes, making sure they are well covered with the duck juices.

    Roast duck with apples recipe 2011

  • Every half an hour or so use a fine skewer to pierce the duck skin with holes to release its juices and then baste the duck with the liquid that collects in the bottom of the pan.

    Roast duck with apples recipe 2011

  • How shall I baste you? she torments the trapped children in her house of sugary temptation before the kids, as legend demands, turn the tables on her and toss her in the oven.

    Matt's TV Week in Review 2012

  • Instruct your guests to skewer their own kabobs and baste veggies with balsamic vinaigrette.

    Dining With Miss Lil: Mother’s Day Delight « 2010

Comments

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  • the best way to prepare dead horse (they can be so dry)

    April 30, 2008

  • An alternate spelling of basta.

    April 23, 2011

  • In heraldry, a division of the base of a shield equal in width to a bar. Also base-bar.

    October 6, 2011