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bathing machine
bas-set /'bæsɪt/ also 'basset ,hound n a sporting dog
with a long body, short legs, and large ears
Bas-sey, Shir-ley /'bæsi, 'ʃɜːli||'ʃɜr-/ (1937–) a British
popular music singer born in Wales, known for her exciting
emotional performances and her expensive-looking tight
dresses. Her songs include Goldfinger and Hey, Big Spender.
bass gui-tar /beɪs g'tɑːr/ also bass n an electric GUITAR
(musical instrument with six strings and a long neck) used
for playing low musical notes
bas-si-net /bæsɪ'net/ n a baby's bed or carriage that looks
like a basket, often with a covering at one end
bas-sist /'beɪsɪst/ n a person who plays the BASS GUITAR or
the DOUBLE BASS
bas-soon /bə'suːn/ n a large musical instrument of the
WOODWIND family, with a double REED —-ist n
bas-tard /'bæstəd, 'bɑː-||'bæstərd/ n 1 often derog a child of
unmarried parents 2 slang an unpleasant, disagreeable, or
cruel person: You bastard! | She's a real bastard to work
for. 3 slang any person, especially a man, of the stated kind:
That lucky bastard! | The poor bastard's been sacked. 4 slang
something difficult or troublesome: This pan is a bastard to
clean. | a bastard of a traffic jam
bas-tard-ize also -ise BrE /'bæstədaɪz, 'bɑː-||'bæstər-/ v [T]
fml to spoil by making false: a bastardized account of the trial
bas-tard-y /'bæstədi, 'bɑː-||'bæstər-/ n [U] fml or law the state
of being a BASTARD
baste¹ /beɪst/ v [t;T] (in sewing) to TACK
baste² v [T] to cover (meat etc) with melted fat during
cooking
Bas-tille, the /bæ'stiːl/ an old prison in Paris, attacked and
destroyed on 14 July 1789 during the French REVOLUTION.
This date is now celebrated each year as a French national
holiday (Bastille Day): The storming of the Bastille really
marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
bas-ti-na-do /bæstɪ'nedəʊ, -'naɪ-/ n pl. -does old use a
form of punishment consisting of beating someone with a
stick across the bottoms of the feet —bastinado v [T]
bas-ti-on /'bæstiən||-tʃən/ n 1 a part of the wall of a castle
or fort that stands out from the main part 2 [(of)] someone
or something that is regarded as strongly defending a particu-
lar principle or activity; STRONGHOLD: a bastion of freedom
during the war | The club is one of the last bastions of male
chauvinism.
bat¹ /bæt/ n 1 a specially
shaped wooden stick for hit-
ting the ball in games such as
cricket, BASEBALL, and TABLE
TENNIS 2 BrE a BATSMAN: one
of the best bats in the
game 3 at bat (in BASEBALL)
having a turn to hit the ball:
Who's at bat now? 4 off
one's own bat BrE through
one's own efforts; without
being told to: Have you done
all this work off your own
bat? 5 off the bat infml, espe-
cially AmE without delay: I
asked her to help us, and
(right) off the bat she said
she would.
bat
bat² v -tt- 1 [T] to hit (as if) with a bat 2 [I] (in cricket and
BASEBALL) to hit a ball with a bat or have a turn to bat: He's
better at batting than at catching. | They both bat
left-handed. | Who's batting now? 3 bat a thousand AmE infml
to perform an activity or job very well, often without
making mistakes: She's been batting a thousand ever since she
got her promotion. 4 go to bat for AmE infml to give support
to; defend
bat³ n 1 a flying mouselike animal that usually eats insects or
fruit and is active at night 2 be/have bats in the belfry infml
to be mad → see also BATS, BATTY, as blind as a bat
(BLIND¹) 3 like a bat out of hell infml extremely quickly: I ran
out of there like a bat out of hell.
bat⁴ v [T] 1 to close and open (the eyes) quickly, sometimes as
a sexual invitation; WINK 2 not bat an eye(lid) infml to show
no sign of surprise or shock: She paid the exorbitant bill
without batting an eyelid.
bat-boy /'bætbɔɪ/ n a boy whose job is to take care of a
BASEBALL team's BATS during a game
batch /bætʃ/ n [(of)] 1 a quantity of material produced in or
prepared for one operation: a batch of bread/loaves | to test a
batch of medicine 2 a group of people or things considered
as a set: The prisoners were released in batches of 10. | a new
batch of students
,batch 'processing n [U] a type of computer processing in
which a group of PROGRAMS or jobs are run on a computer at
one time without interruption → compare INTERACTIVE
—batch process v [T] Each branch of the bank has a
computer which can batch process up to four million transac-
tions a day.
bat-ed /'beɪtɪd/ adj with bated breath hardly breathing at all
because of fear, anxious waiting, or other strong feeling: We
waited for the news with bated breath.
Bates, Norman /beɪts/ the main character of the film
PSYCHO. He owns and manages the Bates Motel, where he
kills some of the people who stay there. He seems very kind,
quiet, and gentle, but he is actually crazy and dangerous.
bath¹ /bɑːθ||bæθ/ n pl. baths /bɑːðz, bɑːθs||bæðz, bæθs/
1 also bathtub AmE — a large basin in which one sits to wash
the whole body: a white enamel bath with brass taps 2 an
act of washing one's whole body at one time: I have (BrE)/
take (AmE) a bath every morning. | I'm just running/
drawing a bath. (=pouring the water for a bath) | a bath
towel → see also SAUNA, TURKISH BATH 3 (a container for
holding) a liquid used for a special purpose: an oil bath | an
eyebath | The fabric is plunged into a bath of black dye. 4 (in
advertisements for houses etc) a bathroom: two bedrooms,
kitchen, and bath → see BATH² (USAGE); see also BATHS
bath² BrE, bathe AmE — v 1 [T] to give a bath to (a person):
He's bathing the baby. 2 [I] to have a bath
1 In British English the verbs bath and bathe have
slightly different meanings. You bath to get clean: He
baths every morning. I to bath a baby. You bathe
something to make it clean in a medical way: to bathe a
wound/ bathe one's eyes. This difference doesn't exist in
American English, which uses bathe for both meanings.
In British English bathe can also be used to mean swim:
to bathe in the sea. 2 The large basin in which you
bath/bathe is a bath (BrE) or bathtub/tub (AmE). 3 It is
more common to say have/take a bath than to use the
verb bath alone: I have/take a bath every day.
Bath a city in southwest England that was famous for many
centuries because of its natural hot waters, used by visitors
to improve their health. Now many tourists visit Bath to see
its old Roman baths and beautiful 18th-century buildings.
'bath chair n (sometimes cap. B) a wheeled chair for an old sick
person to be pushed in, with a covering for the top and
sometimes for the sides → compare WHEELCHAIR
bathe¹ /beɪð/ v 1 [I] especially BrE to swim in the sea, a river
etc for pleasure 2 [I] AmE to have a bath 3 [T] to cover with
or place in water or other liquid, usually for medical reasons:
Bathe your ankle twice a day. 4 [T] lit to flow along the edge
of: The Mediterranean Sea bathes the sunny shores of
Italy. 5 [T(in, with); often pass.] to spread over with or as if with
light, water etc; SUFFUSE: The fields were bathed in sunlight. |
The child's eyes were bathed with/in tears. → see BATH²
(USAGE) —bather n
bathe² n [S] BrE an act of bathing, especially in the sea; a
swim: Let's go for a bathe.
bath-ing /'beɪðɪŋ/ n [U] BrE the act of going into water to
bathe or swim: The bathing is safe here. | a bathing accident |
topless bathing
'bathing ,beauty n old-fash an attractive young woman in a
bathing suit, especially one taking part in a BEAUTY CONTEST
'bathing ,cap n a cap worn in a swimming pool, mostly by
women, to keep the hair dry
'bathing ma,chine n a wooden hut on wheels pulled down
to the sea to allow bathers to dress and undress, used in
Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries