/beɪst/
OriginLate Middle English, from Old French bastir (“build, construct, sew up (a garment)”).
- transitiveTo sew with long or loose stitches, as for temporary use, or in preparation for gathering the fabric.
“He bastes the coat together with thick white thread almost like string, using stitches big enough to be ripped out easily later.”
- transitiveTo sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting.
- broadly, transitiveTo coat over something.
“Ice Cold Daydream" bastes the bayou funk of the Meters in swirling psychedelia, while "Sweet Thang," a swampy blues cowritten with his dad, sounds like something from Dr. John's "Night Tripper" phase.”
- transitiveTo mark (sheep, etc.) with tar.
- archaic, slangTo beat with a stick; to cudgel.
“July 1660, Samuel Pepys, Diaries
One man was basted by the keeper for carrying some people over on his back through the waters.”
- A basting; a sprinkling of drippings etc. in cooking.
“"Just like a leg of mutton being roasted before a slow fire without any one to give it a baste," groaned the old man.”
Formsbastes(present, singular, third-person) · basting(participle, present) · basted(participle, past) · basted(past) · bastes(plural)