v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abased p. pr. & vb. n. Abasing. ] [ F. abaisser, LL. abassare, abbassare ; ad + bassare, fr. bassus low. See Base, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To lower or depress; to throw or cast down; as, to abase the eye. [ Archaic ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Saying so, he abased his lance. Shelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cast down or reduce low or lower, as in rank, office, condition in life, or estimation of worthiness; to depress; to humble; to degrade. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased. Luke xiv. ll. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Abase, Debase, Degrade. These words agree in the idea of bringing down from a higher to a lower state. Abase has reference to a bringing down in condition or feelings; as, to abase the proud, to abase one's self before God. Debase has reference to the bringing down of a thing in purity, or making it base. It is, therefore, always used in a bad sense, as, to debase the coin of the kingdom, to debase the mind by vicious indulgence, to debase one's style by coarse or vulgar expressions. Degrade has reference to a bringing down from some higher grade or from some standard. Thus, a priest is degraded from the clerical office. When used in a moral sense, it denotes a bringing down in character and just estimation; as, degraded by intemperance, a degrading employment, etc. “Art is degraded when it is regarded only as a trade.” [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Lowered; humbled. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Her.) [ F. abaissé. ] Borne lower than usual, as a fess; also, having the ends of the wings turned downward towards the point of the shield. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Abjectly; downcastly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. abaissement. ] The act of abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being abased or humbled; humiliation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. He who, or that which, abases. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abashed p. pr. & vb. n. Abashing. ] [ OE. abaissen, abaisshen, abashen, OF. esbahir, F. ébahir, to astonish, fr. L. ex + the interjection bah, expressing astonishment. In OE. somewhat confused with abase. Cf. Finish. ] To destroy the self-possession of; to confuse or confound, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to put to shame; to disconcert; to discomfit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abashed, the devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was a man whom no check could abash. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To confuse; confound; disconcert; shame. -- To Abash, Confuse, Confound. Abash is a stronger word than confuse, but not so strong as confound. We are abashed when struck either with sudden shame or with a humbling sense of inferiority; as, Peter was abashed by the look of his Master. So a modest youth is abashed in the presence of those who are greatly his superiors. We are confused when, from some unexpected or startling occurrence, we lose clearness of thought and self-possession. Thus, a witness is often confused by a severe cross-examination; a timid person is apt to be confused in entering a room full of strangers. We are confounded when our minds are overwhelmed, as it were, by something wholly unexpected, amazing, dreadful, etc., so that we have nothing to say. Thus, a criminal is usually confounded at the discovery of his guilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Satan stood
Awhile as mute, confounded what to say. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an abashed manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. ébahissement. ] The state of being abashed; confusion from shame. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL.; Gr. 'a- not + ba`sis a step. ] (Med.) Inability to coordinate muscular actions properly in walking. AS [ archaic ] -- A*ba"sic a. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{ ‖‖ } n. [ Ar. & Per. abāsī, belonging to Abas (a king of Persia). ] A silver coin of Persia, worth about twenty cents. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. alabaster, Gr. 'ala`bastros, said to be derived fr. Alabastron, the name of a town in Egypt, near which it was common: cf. OF. alabastre, F. albâtre. ] 1. (Min.) (a) A compact variety or sulphate of lime, or gypsum, of fine texture, and usually white and translucent, but sometimes yellow, red, or gray. It is carved into vases, mantel ornaments, etc. (b) A hard, compact variety of carbonate of lime, somewhat translucent, or of banded shades of color; stalagmite. The name is used in this sense by Pliny. It is sometimes distinguished as oriental alabaster. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A box or vessel for holding odoriferous ointments, etc.; -- so called from the stone of which it was originally made. Fosbroke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Alabastrine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or like, alabaster; as alabastrine limbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Alabastra [ NL. ] (Bot.) A flower bud. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'anaba`s, p. p. of bai`nein to advance. ] (Zool.) A genus of fishes, remarkable for their power of living long out of water, and of making their way on land for considerable distances, and for climbing trees; the climbing fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'ana`basis, fr. 'anabai`nein to go up; 'ana` up + bai`nein to go. ] 1. A journey or expedition up from the coast, like that of the younger Cyrus into Central Asia, described by Xenophon in his work called “The Anabasis.” [ 1913 Webster ]

The anabasis of Napoleon. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) The first period, or increase, of a disease; augmentation. [ Obs. ] AS [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med) A plant genus of the goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae. [ AS ]

n. 1. a tall feather palm of northern Brazil (Orbignya barbosiana) with hard-shelled nuts yielding a valuable oil (
babassu oil) and a kind of vegetable ivory.
Syn. -- babassu palm, coco de macao, Orbignya phalerata, Orbignya spesiosa, Orbignya martiana. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] A flat basket or frail for figs, etc.; hence, a lady's flat workbasket, reticule, or hand bag; -- often written caba. C. Bronté. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zoöl.) A species of armadillo of the genus Xenurus (Xenurus unicinctus and Xenurus hispidus); the tatouay. [ Written also kabassou. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Gr. chabazi`os one of twenty species of stones mentioned in the poem Peri` li`qwn, ascribed to Orpheus. ] (Min.) A mineral occuring in glassy rhombohedral crystals, varying in color from white to yellow or red. It is essentially a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. Called also chabasie. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. calabaza, or Pg. calabaça, cabaça (cf. F. Calebasse), lit., a dry gourd, fr. Ar. qar', fem., a kind of gourd + aibas dry. ] 1. The common gourd (plant or fruit). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fruit of the calabash tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A water dipper, bottle, bascket, or other utensil, made from the dry shell of a calabash or gourd. [ 1913 Webster ]

Calabash tree. (Bot.), a tree of tropical America (Crescentia cujete), producing a large gourdlike fruit, containing a purgative pulp. Its hard shell, after the removal of the pulp, is used for cups, bottles, etc. The African calabash tree is the baobab. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. kataba`sion. ] A vault under altar of a Greek church. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mus.) The lowest stringed instrument of the violin family; the double bass; -- also applied to any instrument of the same deep range as the stringed double bass; as, the contrabass ophicleide; the contrabass tuba or bombardon. [ 1913 Webster + Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ It. contrabasso. ] (Mus.) The largest kind of bass viol. See Violone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an organized body of related information. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. diabase, fr. Gr. &unr_; a crossing or passing over, fr. &unr_;; &unr_; + &unr_; to go; -- so called by Brongniart, because it passes over to diorite. ] (Min.) A basic, dark-colored, holocrystalline, igneous rock, consisting essentially of a triclinic feldspar and pyroxene with magnetic iron; -- often limited to rocks pretertiary in age. It includes part of what was early called greenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hexa- + basic. ] (Chem.) Having six hydrogen atoms or six radicals capable of being replaced or saturated by bases; -- said of acids; as, mellitic acid is hexabasic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Cabassou. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Metabases [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to pass over; &unr_; beyond, over + &unr_; to go. ] 1. (Rhet.) A transition from one subject to another. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Same as Metabola. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) A South American monkey of the genus Callithrix, esp. Callithrix Moloch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pan- + base. So called in allusion to the number of metals contained in it. ] (Min.) Same as Tetrahedrite. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Penta- + basic. ] (Chem.) Capable of uniting with five molecules of a monacid base; having five acid hydrogen atoms capable of substitution by a basic radical; -- said of certain acids. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. An idle, ragged person. Nares. Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Humbled by consciousness of inferiority, unworthiness, guilt, or shame. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Degradation of one's self by one's own act. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Humiliation or abasement proceeding from consciousness of inferiority, guilt, or shame. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Lowering or humbling one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To crush; to quash; to squash. [ Colloq. or Slang, Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ So named after Tabasco, a river and state of Mexico. ] A kind of very pungent sauce made from red peppers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Per. tabāshīr: cf. Skr. tvakkshīrā, tvakshīrā. ] A concretion in the joints of the bamboo, which consists largely or chiefly of pure silica. It is highly valued in the East Indies as a medicine for the cure of bilious vomitings, bloody flux, piles, and various other diseases. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Tetra- + basic. ] (Chem.) Capable of neutralizing four molecules of a monacid base; having four hydrogen atoms capable of replacement by bases; quadribasic; -- said of certain acids; thus, normal silicic acid, Si(OH)4, is a tetrabasic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]