Debase - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: Debase

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

de·base

Audio Help [di-beys] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -based, -bas·ing.

1.	to reduce in quality or value; adulterate: They debased the value of the dollar.

2.	to lower in rank, dignity, or significance: He wouldn't debase himself by doing manual labor.

[Origin: 1555–65; de- + base²; cf. abase

]

—Related forms

de·bas·ed·ness

Audio Help [di-bey-sid-nis, -beyst-] Pronunciation Key, noun

de·base·ment, noun

de·bas·er, noun

de·bas·ing·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. lower, vitiate, corrupt; contaminate, pollute, defile. 2. degrade, abase, demean, reduce.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Debase

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

de·base Audio Help (dĭ-bās') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. de·based, de·bas·ing, de·bas·es
To lower in character, quality, or value; degrade. See Synonyms at adulterate, corrupt, degrade.

[de- + base².]

de·base'ment n., de·bas'er n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
debase

1568, from base "low," on analogy of abase.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

debase
verb
1.	corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality; "debauch the young people with wine and women"; "Socrates was accused of corrupting young men"; "Do school counselors subvert young children?"; "corrupt the morals"
2.	lower in value by increasing the base-metal content
3.	corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones; "adulterate liquor" [syn: load]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Debase

A*base"\ ([.a]*b[=a]s"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abased ([.a]*b[=a]st"); p. pr. & vb. n. Abasing.] [F. abaisser, LL. abassare, abbassare; ad + bassare, fr. bassus low. See Base, a.]

1. To lower or depress; to throw or cast down; as, to abase the eye. [Archaic] --Bacon.

Saying so, he abased his lance. --Shelton.

2. To cast down or reduce low or lower, as in rank, office, condition in life, or estimation of worthiness; to depress; to humble; to degrade.

Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased. --Luke xiv. ll.

Syn: To Abase, Debase, Degrade. These words agree in the idea of bringing down from a higher to a lower state. Abase has reference to a bringing down in condition or feelings; as, to abase the proud, to abase one's self before God. Debase has reference to the bringing down of a thing in purity, or making it base. It is, therefore, always used in a bad sense, as, to debase the coin of the kingdom, to debase the mind by vicious indulgence, to debase one's style by coarse or vulgar expressions. Degrade has reference to a bringing down from some higher grade or from some standard. Thus, a priest is degraded from the clerical office. When used in a moral sense, it denotes a bringing down in character and just estimation; as, degraded by intemperance, a degrading employment, etc. "Art is degraded when it is regarded only as a trade."

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