bass

adjective

low in pitch; of the lowest pitch or range: a bass voice; a bass instrument.

of or pertaining to the lowest part in harmonic music.

noun

the bass part.

a bass voice, singer, or instrument.

double bass.

00:10

Bass is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

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Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English, variant of base² with ss of basso

Related forms

bass·ly, adverb

bass·ness, noun

bass·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural ( especially collectively ) bass ( especially referring to two or more kinds or species ) bass·es.

any of numerous edible, spiny-finned, freshwater or marine fishes of the families Serranidae and Centrarchidae.

(originally) the European perch, Perca fluviatilis.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English bas, earlier bærs, Old English bærs (with loss of r before s as in ass², passel, etc.); cognate with Dutch baars, German Barsch, Old Swedish agh-borre

noun

the basswood or linden.

Botany, bast.

Origin:
1685–95; variant of bast with unexplained loss of -t

noun

Sam, 1851–78, U.S. outlaw: bank and train robber in the West.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To Bass

Collins

World English Dictionary

bass¹ (beɪs)

—n
1.	the lowest adult male voice usually having a range from E a 13th below middle C to D a tone above it
2.	a singer with such a voice
3.	the bass See also thorough bass the lowest part in a piece of harmony
4.	informal bass guitar short for double bass
5.	a. the low-frequency component of an electrical audio signal, esp in a record player or tape recorder
	b. the knob controlling this on such an instrument

—*adj*
6.	relating to or denoting the bass: bass pitch; the bass part
7.	denoting the lowest and largest instrument in a family: a bass trombone

[C15 basbase¹; modern spelling influenced by basso]

bass² (bæs)

—n
1.	sea bass See also stone bass any of various sea perches, esp Morone labrax, a popular game fish with one large spiny dorsal fin separate from a second smaller one
2.	See perch the European perch
3.	any of various predatory North American freshwater percoid fishes, such as Micropterus salmoides, (largemouth bass): family Centrarchidae (sunfishes, etc)

[C15: changed from base², influenced by Italian basso low]

bass³ (bæs)

—n
1.	another name for bast
2.	short for basswood
3.	Also called: fish bass a bast fibre bag for holding an angler's catch

[C17: changed from bast]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

bass

"low" (voice or instrument, ranging from the E flat below the bass stave to the F above it), late 14c., originally base, influenced by It. basso, from L.L. bassus "short, low" (see base (adj.)). Meaning "bass-viol" is from 1702; that of "double-bass" is from 1927.

bass

"fish," 15c. corruption of O.E. bærs "a fish, perch," from P.Gmc. base *bars- "sharp" (cf. M.Du. baerse, M.H.G. bars, Ger. Barsch "perch," Ger. barsch "rough"), from PIE base *bhors- "bristle." The fish was so called for its dorsal fins.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

bass [(bays)]

The lowest range of the male singing voice. (Compare baritone and tenor.)