Library / English Dictionary

BOTTOM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cargo ship

Example:

they did much of their overseas trade in foreign bottoms

Synonyms:

bottom; freighter; merchant ship; merchantman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

cargo ship; cargo vessel (a ship designed to carry cargo)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

Example:

are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?

Synonyms:

arse; ass; backside; behind; bottom; bum; buns; butt; buttocks; can; derriere; fanny; fundament; hind end; hindquarters; keister; nates; posterior; prat; rear; rear end; rump; seat; stern; tail; tail end; tooshie; tush

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

Holonyms ("bottom" is a part of...):

body; torso; trunk (the body excluding the head and neck and limbs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The lower side of anything

Synonyms:

bottom; underside; undersurface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

face; side (a surface forming part of the outside of an object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bottom"):

base (a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit)

bilge (where the sides of the vessel curve in to form the bottom)

heel (the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation)

sole (the underside of footwear or a golf club)

underbelly (lower side)

Derivation:

bottom (strike the ground, as with a ship's bottom)

bottom (provide with a bottom or a seat)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The lowest part of anything

Example:

they started at the bottom of the hill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

part; region (the extended spatial location of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bottom"):

foot (the lower part of anything)

base ((anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment)

rock bottom (the absolute bottom)

Derivation:

bottom (strike the ground, as with a ship's bottom)

bottom (provide with a bottom or a seat)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A depression forming the ground under a body of water

Example:

he searched for treasure on the ocean bed

Synonyms:

bed; bottom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

depression; natural depression (a sunken or depressed geological formation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bottom"):

lake bed; lake bottom (the bottom of a lake)

Davy Jones; Davy Jones's locker; ocean bottom; ocean floor; sea bottom; sea floor; seabed (the bottom of a sea or ocean)

river bottom; riverbed (a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a river)

creek bed; streambed (a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a stream)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Low-lying alluvial land near a river

Synonyms:

bottom; bottomland

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

ground; land; soil (material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use))

Sense 7

Meaning:

The second half of an inning; while the home team is at bat

Synonyms:

bottom; bottom of the inning

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("bottom" is a kind of...):

bout; round; turn ((sports) a division during which one team is on the offensive)

Holonyms ("bottom" is a part of...):

frame; inning ((baseball) one of nine divisions of play during which each team has a turn at bat)

Antonym:

top (the first half of an inning; while the visiting team is at bat)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The lowest rank

Example:

bottom member of the class

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

worst ((superlative of 'bad') most wanting in quality or value or condition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Situated at the bottom or lowest position

Example:

the bottom drawer

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

bottommost; lowermost; nethermost (farthest down)

inferior (lower than a given reference point)

nether (lower)

Antonym:

side (located on a side)

top (situated at the top or highest position)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come to understand

Synonyms:

bottom; fathom; penetrate

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "bottom" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strike the ground, as with a ship's bottom

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "bottom" is one way to...):

collide with; hit; impinge on; run into; strike (hit against; come into sudden contact with)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

bottom (the lower side of anything)

bottom (the lowest part of anything)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Provide with a bottom or a seat

Example:

bottom the chairs

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "bottom" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Domain category:

cabinetry; cabinetwork (the craft of making furniture (especially furniture of high quality))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bottom (the lower side of anything)

bottom (the lowest part of anything)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Between the aluminum top and the silicon bottom is a very thin layer of silicon dioxide.

(Harvesting Electrical Power from Waste Heat, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The door at the bottom was closed, but unlocked.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Well, I am sure Moran was at the bottom of it, but nothing could be proved.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was a long climb, and they could not go fast; but very fast to Negore they seemed to approach the midway point where top was no less near than bottom.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"The bottom line is that we don't know the answer," Jacobs acknowledged.

(Vitamin C Might Shorten Tuberculosis Treatment Time, Study Indicates, VOA/Steve Baragona)

Entreating him, therefore, to remain a few minutes at the bottom of the stairs, I darted up towards my own room.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Pharyngeal cancer includes cancer of the nasopharynx (the upper part of the throat behind the nose), the oropharynx (the middle part of the pharynx), and the hypopharynx (the bottom part of the pharynx).

(Pharyngeal cancer, NCI Dictionary)

Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into the moonlight.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Formation by cetrifugation of a tightly packed sample in the bottom of a tube.

(Pellet Formation, NCI Thesaurus)