n. A circular dish or vessel of greater width than depth, contracting toward the bottom, and used chiefly to hold water or other liquid, especially for washing, but also for various other purposes.n. As much as a basin will hold; a basinful.n. In the arts and manufacturing: In hat-making, a vessel filled with boiling water in which the loose mat of felted fur formed on the cone for a hat-body is dipped in the process of basining (see basin, v. t.), in order to shrink it to the proper size. Also called sizing-kettle.n. A concave piece of metal on which glass-grinders form their convex glasses.n. The scale or scale-dish of a balance when concave.n. A pair of hollow metal dishes clashed together like cymbals to produce sound: formerly beaten when infamous persons were exposed in a cart as a punishment.n. A basin-shaped vessel hung by chains from the roof of a church, with a pricket in the middle for the serges. See cerge. When of silver, such vessels usually had a brass or latten basin within to catch the wax-droppings.n. The hollow part of a plate or dish.n. A natural or artificial reservoir for water.n. In geography: The area drained by a river.n. A basin-shaped depression or hollow; a circular or oval valley.n. In geology, an area over which the stratified formations are so disposed as to show that they were deposited in succession within a basin-shaped depression of the original surface, thus giving rise to a series of beds which have a general dip toward a common center, especially near the edges of the area.n. In anatomy: The third ventricle of the brain.n. The pelvis.n. In entomology, a large concavity in a surface; specifically, a concave portion of the metathoracic segment over the base of the abdomen.n. Formerly also spelled bason.In hat-making, to harden or shrink to the proper size, as a hat-body in the process of felting, by dipping in the basin of hot water, wrapping in the basining-cloth (which see), and rolling on a table. Also spelled bason.n. In horticulture, the depression at the apex of pomaceous fruits, as apples and pears. The calyx or eye sits in the basin. The depression at the opposite end is known as the cavity.n. An intermediate basin between a wet dock and the sea or tidal portion of a river or harbor. This intermediate basin is operated in the same manner as an ordinary lock, and differs from it only in being larger and thus in locking in or out several vessels at a time.
