BASTE
What does "BASTE" mean?
To moisten roasting food with fat or juices, or to stitch fabric loosely as a guide.
Meanings
- To spoon or brush juices, fat, or sauce over food as it cooks, to keep it moist. Baste the turkey every twenty minutes so it stays juicy.
- To sew with long, loose, temporary stitches that hold pieces in place before final stitching. She basted the hem before running it through the machine. technical
- To beat or thrash someone soundly (archaic). The old play has one rogue baste another with a stick. archaic
Word origin
The cooking sense is of uncertain origin, possibly from Old French 'basser' (to moisten); the sewing sense comes separately from Old French 'bastir' (to build, tack together), of Germanic origin.
Remember it
BASTE the roast and BASTE the seam: in both, you're a temporary helper - keeping it moist, or holding it together until the real stitch comes.
A little poem
Spoon the bright fat back-
what the heat keeps trying to take,
patience hands return.
haiku
Wordplay
- The chef and the tailor both said they'd baste it - one reached for a spoon, one reached for a needle, and the goose was very confused.
What it teaches
Whether on a roast or a seam, basting is the same art: a loose, attentive hold that keeps the thing from drying out or falling apart before it's done.
Quick facts
What does BASTE mean?
To moisten roasting food with fat or juices, or to stitch fabric loosely as a guide.
Is BASTE a valid word?
Yes — BASTE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BASTE?
BASTE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does BASTE come from?
The cooking sense is of uncertain origin, possibly from Old French 'basser' (to moisten); the sewing sense comes separately from Old French 'bastir' (to build, tack together), of Germanic origin.
What can BASTE teach us?
Whether on a roast or a seam, basting is the same art: a loose, attentive hold that keeps the thing from drying out or falling apart before it's done.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.