Definition of "basement" []

• The substructure or foundation of a building. (noun)
• The lowest habitable story of a building, usually below ground level. (noun)
• Geology A complex of undifferentiated igneous and metamorphic rocks underlying sedimentary strata. (noun)
• Slang The last place or lowest level, as in competitive standings. (noun)
• Chiefly New England A public toilet, especially one in a school. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Slamming my head repeatedly against the steel support post in the basement is the only certain solution, but I might wake up a Republican congressman. hc carey says:"
• "The flood in the basement is a less uplifting indicator that a major thaw is underway."
• "It was amongst the jars my mother-in-love gave me many years ago from her fruit room that's what she called her basement canning storage room."