bass
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bass
(pronounced b¯ass) in music, low in pitch or range, a bass voice or instrument: He sings bass.
Not to be confused with:
base – the bottom support; that on which something stands; a fundamental principle; basis; foundation: Place the vase on the base.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
bass 1
(băs)n. pl. bass or bass·es
1. Any of various North American freshwater fishes of the family Centrarchidae, especially the largemouth bass and the smallmouth bass.
2. Any of various marine fishes especially of the families Serranidae and Moronidae, and including the sea basses and the striped bass.
[Middle English bas, perch, variant of early Middle English bærs, from Old English bears, bærs.]
bass 2
(bās)n.
1.
a. A male singing voice of the lowest range.
b. A singer who has such a voice.
2. An instrument, especially a double bass or bass guitar, that produces tones in a low register.
3. A vocal or instrumental part written in a low register.
4. A low-pitched sound or tone: the deep bass of trucks braking on the highway nearby.
5. The tones in the lowest register of an instrument: a piano that is weak in the treble but has a very full sound in the bass.
adj.
1. Having a deep tone.
2. Low in pitch.
[Middle English bas, lowest musical part, from bas, low; see base2.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
bass
(beɪs)n
1. (Music, other) the lowest adult male voice usually having a range from E a 13th below middle C to D a tone above it
2. (Music, other) a singer with such a voice
3. (Music, other) the bass the lowest part in a piece of harmony. See also thorough bass
4. (Instruments) informal short for bass guitar, double bass
5. (Electronics)
a. the low-frequency component of an electrical audio signal, esp in a record player or tape recorder
b. the knob controlling this on such an instrument
adj
6. (Music, other) relating to or denoting the bass: bass pitch; the bass part.
7. (Instruments) denoting the lowest and largest instrument in a family: a bass trombone.
[C15 bas base1; modern spelling influenced by basso]
bass
(bæs)n
1. (Animals) any of various sea perches, esp Morone labrax, a popular game fish with one large spiny dorsal fin separate from a second smaller one. See also sea bass, stone bass
2. (Animals) the European perch. See perch21
3. (Animals) any of various predatory North American freshwater percoid fishes, such as Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass): family Centrarchidae (sunfishes, etc)
[C15: changed from base2, influenced by Italian basso low]
bass
(bæs)n
1. (Botany) another name for bast1
2. (Plants) short for basswood
3. (Angling) Also called: fish bass a bast fibre bag for holding an angler's catch
[C17: changed from bast]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
bass1
(beɪs)adj.
1. low in pitch; of the lowest pitch or range.
2. of or pertaining to the lowest part in harmonic music.
n. 3. the bass part.
4. a bass voice, singer, or instrument.
5. double bass.
bass′ness, n.
bass2
(bæs)n., pl. (esp. collectively) bass, (esp. for kinds or species) bass•es.
any of numerous edible, spiny-finned, freshwater or marine fishes of the families Serranidae and Centrarchidae.
[1375–1425; late Middle English bas, earlier bærs, Old English bærs, c. Middle Dutch, Middle High German bars]
bass3
(bæs)n.
1. bast.
2. basswood.
[1685–95; variant of bast]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
bass
– baseThese words are both usually pronounced /beɪs/.
1. 'bass'
A bass is a male singer who can sing very low notes.
...the great Russian bass Chaliapin.
A bass saxophone, guitar, or other musical instrument is one that has a lower range of notes than other instruments of its kind.
The girl vocalist had been joined by the lead and bass guitars.
A bass is also an edible fish that is found in rivers and the sea. There are several types of bass.
They unloaded their catch of cod and bass.
Be Careful!
Note that this sense of the word bass is pronounced /bæs/.
2. 'base'
The base of something is its lowest edge or part.
...the switch on the lamp base.
I had back pain starting at the base of my spine and shooting up it.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
bass
The lowest male voice, a true bass not only reaches low notes, but also has a deep quality. Although often given long low notes, the bass can be as vocally agile as any other singer.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  bass - the lowest part of the musical rangepitch - the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration |
| 2. | bass - the lowest part in polyphonic music part, voice - the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music; "he tried to sing the tenor part" ground bass - a short melody in the bass that is constantly repeated basso continuo, continuo, figured bass, thorough bass - a bass part written out in full and accompanied by numbers to indicate the chords to be played | |
| 3. |  bass - an adult male singer with the lowest voice | |
| 4. |  bass - the lean flesh of a saltwater fish of the family Serranidaesea bass - any of various food and sport fishes of the Atlantic coast of the United States having an elongated body and long spiny dorsal fin saltwater fish - flesh of fish from the sea used as food striped bass, striper - caught along the Atlantic coast of the United States | |
| 5. |  bass - any of various North American freshwater fish with lean flesh (especially of the genus Micropterus)freshwater bass - North American food and game fish freshwater fish - flesh of fish from fresh water used as food largemouth bass - flesh of largemouth bass smallmouth bass - flesh of smallmouth bass | |
| 6. |  bass - the lowest adult male singing voicesinging voice - the musical quality of the voice while singing basso profundo - a very deep bass voice | |
| 7. |  bass - the member with the lowest range of a family of musical instrumentsbull fiddle, contrabass, double bass, string bass, bass fiddle, bass viol - largest and lowest member of the violin family bass guitar - the guitar with six strings that has the lowest pitch musical instrument, instrument - any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sounds | |
| 8. |  bass - nontechnical name for any of numerous edible marine and freshwater spiny-finned fishesfreshwater bass - North American food and game fish | |
| Adj. | 1. | bass - having or denoting a low vocal or instrumental range; "a deep voice"; "a bass voice is lower than a baritone voice"; "a bass clarinet" low-pitched, low - used of sounds and voices; low in pitch or frequency |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
bass
adjective deep, low, resonant, sonorous, low-pitched, deep-toned a bass guitar
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
bass
adjectiveBeing a sound produced by a relatively small frequency of vibrations:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
الـجَهِيرسَمَك ذِئْب البَحْر: القاروسمُغَنٍ جَهير الصَّوْت
basbasabasistaokoun
basbasstemmehavaborrebars
basa
basso
basgrgeč
bassi, bassaröddvartari
バス
베이스
bassus
asarisbass
basbasistaostriež
basbasovski
bas
นักร้องโทนเสียงต่ำ
giọng nam trầm
bass
1 [beɪs] (Mus)A. ADJ → bajo
B. N (= voice, singer, guitar) → bajo m; (= double bass) → contrabajo m
C. CPD bass baritone N → barítono m bajo
bass clef N → clave f de fa
bass drum N → bombo m
bass flute N → flauta f contralto
bass guitar N → bajo m
bass horn N → trompa f baja
bass strings NPL → instrumentos mpl de cuerda bajos
bass trombone N → trombón m bajo
bass tuba N → tuba f
bass viol N → viola f de gamba baja
bass clef N → clave f de fa
bass drum N → bombo m
bass flute N → flauta f contralto
bass guitar N → bajo m
bass horn N → trompa f baja
bass strings NPL → instrumentos mpl de cuerda bajos
bass trombone N → trombón m bajo
bass tuba N → tuba f
bass viol N → viola f de gamba baja
bass
2 [bæs] N (= fish) → róbalo mCollins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
bass
[ˈbæs ˈbeɪs] nCollins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
bass
:bass clef
n → Bassschlüssel m
bass
1 (Mus)n → Bass m
adj → Bass-
bass
2n pl <-(es)> (= fish) → (Wolfs)barsch m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
bass
1 [beɪs] (Mus)1. adj → basso/a
2. n (voice) → voce f di basso; (singer) → basso; (double bass) → contrabbasso; (guitar) → basso (elettrico); (on hi-fi) → basso
bass
2 [bæs] n (fish, freshwater) → pesce m persico; (seawater) → spigolaCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
bass1
(beis) – plural ˈbasses – noun (a singer having) a male voice of the lowest pitch.
bass2
(bӕs) – plural bass (rare) ˈbasses – noun a type of fish of the perch family.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
bass
→ الـجَهِير bas bas Bass μπάσο bajo basso basse bas basso バス 베이스 bas havabbor bas baixo бас bas นักร้องโทนเสียงต่ำ bas giọng nam trầm 男低音Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009