bask

From Old Norse baðask (“to take a bath”, literally “to bathe oneself”), mediopassive form from underlying baða (“to bathe”) + sik (“oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *baþōną and *sek. Doublet of English bathe.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bäsk IPA^(key): /bɑːsk/
• (General American) enPR: băsk IPA^(key): /bæsk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: Basque, basque (in some dialects)
• Rhymes: -æsk, -ɑːsk

bask (third-person singular simple present basks, present participle basking, simple past and past participle basked)

1. To bathe in warmth; to be exposed to pleasant heat.

   to bask in the sun

   • 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 5:

     The naked Negro, panting at the line, / Baſks in the glare, or ſtems the tepid wave, / And thanks his Gods for all the good they gave.

   • 2021 October 20, Paul Stephen, “Leisure and Pleasure on the Far North Line”, in RAIL, number 942, page 48:

     There will be no problems with visibility, or the highly changeable Highland weather, as Scotland basks in what is reported to be the country's hottest September day for more than a century.

2. (figurative) To take great pleasure or satisfaction; to feel warmth or happiness. (Usually followed by "in".)

   I basked in her love.

   to bask in someone's favour

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎:

     As President Obama turns his attention once again to filling out a cabinet and writing an Inaugural Address, this much is clear: he should not expect to bask in a surge of national unity, or to witness a crowd of millions overrun the Mall just to say they were there.

   • 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport‎:

     On this evidence they will certainly face tougher tests, as a depleted Newcastle side seemed to bask in the relative security of being ninth in the table

• (to be exposed to the sun's heat): apricate, sun

bask (countable and uncountable, plural basks)

1. (countable, collective) A group of crocodiles; the collective noun for crocodiles.
   • 2020 March, “COVID-19 threatens health systems in sub-Saharan Africa: the eye of the crocodile”, in Journal of Clinical Investigation, volume 130, number 6, page 2741:

     The threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to health systems in subSaharan Africa (SSA) can be compared metaphorically to a lake in Africa infested with a bask of crocodiles and the saying “the eye of the crocodile.”

• kabs

bask m

1. Basque (person)
2. Basque (language)

From Proto-Iranian *baHjúš (“arm”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰaHȷ́ʰúš, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús. Compare Baluchi باسک (básk), Old Armenian բազուկ (bazuk), Parthian 𐫁𐫀𐫉𐫇𐫃 (bʾzwg /⁠bāzūg⁠/).

• IPA^(key): /bɑːsk/

bask m

1. wing
2. feather
3. arm
4. wrist

• Chyet, Michael L. (2003) “bask”, in Kurdish–English Dictionary‎, with selected etymologies by Martin Schwartz, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, page 24

bask c

1. Basque; member of people

• baskiska
• baskisk
• Baskien

• baks