basan

Noun (1)

basil (usually uncountable, plural basils)

1. (usually) A plant (Ocimum basilicum).

   Synonyms:

   sweet basil, St. Joseph's wort, common basil, American dittany, great basil

2. (usually) The leaves of this plant used as a herb.

   Synonyms:

   sweet basil

3. (usually) Any other species in the genus Ocimum.

Noun (2)

basil (plural basils)

1. The angle to which a joiner's tool is ground away.
   • [H]old the edge of your Iron upvvards in your left hand and your VVhet-ſtone in your right, and having firſt ſpit upon your Stone to vvet it, apply it to the Baſil of your Iron, in ſuch a Poſition that it may bear upon the vvhole bredth of the Baſil; and ſo vvorking the Stone over the Baſil, you...1678 April 11 – May 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] IV. The Art of Joynery.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon...

Noun (3)

basil (plural basils)

1. The skin of a sheep tanned with bark.
   • Each sleeper has for covering a large basil (dressed sheep-skin), such as cobblers use for aprons. As they lie in long rows, in the most profound repose, with these dark brown wrappers about them, they present the uniform look and arrangement of a long line of mummies.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861

   Synonyms:

   basan, bazil

Noun (4)

basil (plural basils)

1. (obsolete) A type of cannon.

See all 9 meanings of basil