basement
Americannoun
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a story of a building, partly or wholly underground.
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(in classical and Renaissance architecture) the portion of a building beneath the principal story, treated as a single compositional unit.
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the lowermost portion of a structure.
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the substructure of a columnar or arched construction.
noun
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a partly or wholly underground storey of a building, esp the one immediately below the main floor Compare cellar
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( as modifier )
a basement flat
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the foundation or substructure of a wall or building
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geology a part of the earth's crust formed of hard igneous or metamorphic rock that lies beneath the cover of soft sedimentary rock, sediment, and soil
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of basement
Explanation
A basement is a room that's below ground level, underneath the first floor. You might have a laundry room with a washer and dryer in your basement. Some basements are partially under the level of the street, while others are completely below ground. Many, though not all, houses and larger buildings have basements. Some basements are "finished," with carpeting and solid ceilings and walls, but more often they're very basic rooms used for storage. The word dates from 1730, most likely from the Italian basamento, "column base."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But step past the luxury façade into the basement, and the quiet disappears.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Recorded largely in the steamy, sweltering basement of Richards’ rented French villa, Nellecôte, “Exile” reeks of filth, decadence and decay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
So do the church basement, the neighborhood barbecue, the youth-sports sideline and the ferry queue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Don’t miss: Micron was started by a few guys in an Idaho basement.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
I think about Dad in the basement, struggling to find a new job.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
The metro is too far from her home and there are no decent shelters or basements nearby.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
In an old building, there is a good chance that infrasound is present, particularly in basements where aging pipes and ventilation systems produce low-frequency vibrations.
From Science Daily ● May 3, 2026
With first-time buyers as their intended customers, the company’s innovations included lowering prices by building homes on slabs, instead of digging costly basements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
This can lead to water filtering upwards above roads or into cellars and basements.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Average Soviet citizens had no money for private bunkers, so the focus was on building public shelters in the basements of large buildings.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.