BASIS. See [Base].
BASKET. In field-works, baskets or corbeilles are used, to be filled with earth, and placed by one another, to cover the men from the enemy's shot.
BASKET-FISH. A name for several species of Euryale; a kind of star-fish, the arms of which divide and subdivide many times, and curl up and intertwine at the ends, giving the whole animal something of the appearance of a round basket.
BASKET-HILT. The guard continued up the hilt of a cutlass, so as to protect the whole hand from injury.
BASKING SHARK. So called from being often seen lying still in the sunshine. A large cartilaginous fish, the Squalus maximus of Linnæus, inhabiting the Northern Ocean. It attains a length of 30 feet, but is neither fierce nor voracious. Its liver yields from eight to twelve barrels of oil.
BASS, or Bast. A soft sedge or rush (Juncus lævis), of which coarse kinds of rope and matting are made. A Gaelic term for the blade of an oar.
BASSE. A species of perch (Perca labrax), found on the coast and in estuaries, commonly about 18 inches long.
BASSOS. A name in old charts for shoals; whence bas-fond and basso-fondo. Rocks a-wash, or below water.
BAST. Lime-tree, linden (Tilia europea). Bast is made also from the bark of various other trees, macerated in water till the fibrous layers separate. In the Pacific Isles it is very fine and strong, from Hibiscus tiliaceus.
BASTA. A word in former use for enough, from the Italian.