Why bastard? wherefore base?
Shak.

Base fee, formerly, an estate held at the will of the lord; now, a qualified fee. See note under Fee, n., 4. -- Base metal. See under Metal.

Syn. -- Dishonorable; worthless; ignoble; low-minded; infamous; sordid; degraded. -- Base, Vile, Mean. These words, as expressing moral qualities, are here arranged in the order of their strength, the strongest being placed first. Base marks a high degree of moral turpitude; vile and mean denote, in different degrees, the want of what is valuable or worthy of esteem. What is base excites our abhorrence; what is vile provokes our disgust or indignation; what is mean awakens contempt. Base is opposed to high-minded; vile, to noble; mean, to liberal or generous. Ingratitude is base; sycophancy is vile; undue compliances are mean.

The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.
Dryden.

To their appointed base they went.
Dryden.

Altern base. See under Altern. -- Attic base. (Arch.) See under Attic. -- Base course. (Arch.) (a) The first or lower course of a foundation wall, made of large stones or a mass of concrete; -- called also foundation course. (b) The architectural member forming the transition between the basement and the wall above. -- Base hit (Baseball), a hit, by which the batsman, without any error on the part of his opponents, is able to reach the first base without being put out. -- Base line. (a) A main line taken as a base, as in surveying or in military operations. (b) A line traced round a cannon at the rear of the vent. -- Base plate, the foundation plate of heavy machinery, as of the steam engine; the bed plate. -- Base ring (Ordnance), a projecting band of metal around the breech, connected with the body of the gun by a concave molding. H. L. Scott.

If any . . . based his pike.
Sir T. North.

Metals which we can not base.
Bacon.