Basket B'ASKET, n. 1. A domestic vessel made of twigs,
rushes,splinters or other flexible things interwoven. The forms and
sizes of baskets are very various, as well as the uses to which they
are applied; as corn-baskets, clothes-baskets, fruit-baskets, and
work-baskets. 2. The contents of a basket; as much as a basket
will contain; as, a basket of medlars is two bushels. But in general,
this quantity is indefinite. In military affairs, baskets of earth
sometimes are used on the parapet of a trench, between which the soldiers
fire. They serve for defense against small shot. B'ASKET,
v.t. To put in a basket.
basket
n 1: a container that is usually woven and has handles [syn:
basket, handbasket]
2: the quantity contained in a basket [syn: basket,
basketful]
3: horizontal circular metal hoop supporting a net through which
players try to throw the basketball [syn: basket,
basketball hoop, hoop]
4: a score in basketball made by throwing the ball through the
hoop [syn: basket, field goal]
basket nounEtymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French; akin to Old French
baschoue wooden vessel; both from Latin bascauda kind of basin,
of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish basc necklace — more at
fasciaDate: 14th century 1.a. a receptacle made of interwoven material (as osiers) b.
any of various lightweight usually wood containers c. the quantity
contained in a basket
2. something that resembles a basket especially in shape or use
3.a. a net open at the bottom and suspended from a metal ring that
constitutes the goal in basketball b. a field goal in basketball
4.a. an aggregate of values (as of selected currencies)
the average of which serves as a monetary standard b. a selection
of financial instruments (as equities, futures, or options) the values of
which reflect market fluctuations
5. a ring around the lower end of a ski pole that keeps the pole
from sinking too deep in snow • basketlikeadjective
basket n. 1 a container made of interwoven cane etc. 2 a container resembling this. 3 the amount held by a basket. 4 the goal in basketball, or a goal scored. 5 Econ. a group or range
(of currencies). 6 euphem. colloq. bastard. Phrases and idioms: basket weave a weave resembling that of a basket. Derivatives: basketful n. (pl.
-fuls). Etymology: AF & OF basket, AL baskettum, of unkn. orig.
basket
ˈbɑ:skɪt n. 1 a container made of interwoven cane etc. 2 a
container resembling this. 3 the amount held by a basket. 4 the goal in
basketball, or a goal scored. 5 Econ. a group or range (of currencies). 6
euphem. colloq. bastard. øbasket weave a weave resembling that of a
basket. øøbasketful n. (pl. -fuls). [AF & OF basket, AL baskettum,
of unkn. orig.]
BASKET
An exclamation frequently made use of in cock-pits,
at cock-fightings, where persons refusing or unable
to pay their losings, are adjudged by that respectable
assembly to be put into a basket suspended over the pit, there
to remain during that day's diversion: on the least demur
to pay a bet, Basket is vociferated in terrorem. He grins
like a basket of chips: a saying of one who is on the broad
grin.
Basket \Bas"ket\, n. [Of unknown origin. The modern Celtic words
seem to be from the English.]
1. A vessel made of osiers or other twigs, cane, rushes,
splints, or other flexible material, interwoven. ``Rude
baskets . . . woven of the flexile willow.'' --Dyer.
2. The contents of a basket; as much as a basket contains;
as, a basket of peaches.
3. (Arch.) The bell or vase of the Corinthian capital.
[Improperly so used.] --Gwilt.
4. The two back seats facing one another on the outside of a
stagecoach. [Eng.] --Goldsmith.
Basket fish (Zo["o]l.), an ophiuran of the genus
Astrophyton, having the arms much branched. See
Astrophyton.
Basket hilt, a hilt with a covering wrought like basketwork
to protect the hand. --Hudibras. Hence,
Baskethilted, a.
Basket work, work consisting of plaited osiers or twigs.
Basket worm (Zo["o]l.), a lepidopterous insect of the genus
Thyridopteryx and allied genera, esp. T.
ephemer[ae]formis}. The larva makes and carries about a
bag or basket-like case of silk and twigs, which it
afterwards hangs up to shelter the pupa and wingless adult
females.
BASKET
bas'-ket: Four kinds of "baskets" come to view in the Old Testament under the
Hebrew names, dudh, Tene', cal and kelubh. There is little, however, in these
names, or in the narratives where they are found, to indicate definitely
what the differences of size and shape and use were. The Mishna renders
us some help in our uncertainty, giving numerous names and descriptions of
"baskets" in use among the ancient Hebrews (see Kreugel, Dasse Hausgerat in
der Mishna, 39-45). They were variously m ade of willow, rush, palm-leaf,
etc., and were used for various purposes, domestic and agricultural, for
instance, in gathering and serving fruit, collecting alms in kind for the
poor, etc. Some had handles, others lids, some both, others neither.
1. Meaning of Old Testament Terms:
(1) Dudh was probably a generic term for various kinds of baskets. It was
probably the "basket" in which the Israelites in Egypt carried the clay for
bricks (compare Ps 81:6, where it is used as a symbol of Egyptian
bondage), and such as the Egyptians themselves used for that purpose
(Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, I, 379), probably a large, shallow basket,
made of wicker-work. It stood for a basket that was used in fruit-gathering
(see Jer 24:1), but how it differed from Amos' "basket of summer fruit"
(Am 8:1) we do not know. Dudh is used for the "pot" in which meat
was boiled (1Sa 2:14), showing probably that a pot-shaped "basket"
was known by this name. Then it seems to have stood for a basket tapering
toward the bottom like the calathus of the Romans. So we seem forced to
conclude that the term was generic, not specific.
(2) The commonest basket in use in Old Testament times was the cal. It was the
"basket" in which the court-baker of Egypt carried about his confectionery
on his head (Ge 40:16). It was made in later times at least of peeled
willows, or palm leaves, and was sometimes at least large and flat like the
canistrum of the Romans, and, like it, was used for carrying bread and other
articles of food (Ge 40:16; Jud 6:19). Meat for the meat offerings and
the unleavened bread, were placed in it (Ex 29:3; Le 8:2; Nu 6:15). It
is expressly required that the unleavened cakes be placed and offered in such a
"basket." While a "basket," it was dish-shaped, larger or smaller in size, it
would seem, according to demand, and perhaps of finer texture than the dudh.
(3) The Tene' was a large, deep basket, in which grain and other products
of garden or field were carried home, and kept (De 28:5,17), in which
the first-fruits were preserved (De 26:2), and the tithes transported
to the sanctuary (De 26:2 f). It has been thought probable that the
chabya, the basket of clay and straw of the Palestine peasantry of today,
is a sort of survival or counterpart of it. It has the general shape of
a jar, and is used for storing and keeping wheat, barley, oats, etc. At
the top is the mouth into which the grain is poured, and at the bottom is
an orifice through which it can be taken out as needed, when the opening
is again closed with a rag. The Septuagint translates Tene' by kartallos,
which denotes a basket of the shape of an inverted cone.
(4) The term kelubh, found in Am 8:1 for a "fruit-basket," is used
in Jer 5:27 (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British
and American) "cage") for a bird-cage. But it is not at all unreasonable to
suppose that a coarsely woven basket with a cover would be used by a fowler
to carry home his feathered captives.
2. Meaning of New Testament Terms:
In the New Testament interest centers in two kinds of "basket," distinguished
by the evangelists in their accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 and of the
4,000, called in Greek kophinos and spuris (Westcott-Hort sphuris).
(1) The kophinos (Mt 14:20; Mr 6:43; Lu 9:17; Joh 6:13) may be
confidently identified with the kuphta' of the Mishna which was provided
with a cord for a handle by means of which it could be carried on the back
with such provisions as the disciples on the occasions under consideration
would naturally have with them (of Kreugel, and Broadus, Commentary
in the place cited.). The Jews of Juvenal's day carried such a specific
"provision-basket" with them on their journeys regularly, and the Latin for
it is a transliteration of this Greek word, cophinus (compare Juvenal iii.14,
and Jastrow, Dictionary, article "Basket"). Some idea of its size may be drawn
from the fact that in CIG, 1625, 46, the word denotes a Beotian measure of
about two gallons.
(2) The sphuris or spuris (Mt 15:37; Mr 8:8) we may be sure, from its
being used in letting Paul down from the wall at Damascus (Ac 9:25,
etc.), was considerably larger than the kophinos and quite different in shape
and uses. It might for distinction fitly be rendered "hamper," as Professor
Kennedy suggests. Certainly neither the Greek nor ancient usage justifies
any confusion.
(3) The sargane (2Co 11:33) means anything plaited, or sometimes more
specifically a fish-basket.
George B. Eager
Basket
There are five different Hebrew words so rendered in the
Authorized Version: (1.) A basket (Heb. sal, a twig or osier)
for holding bread (Gen. 40:16; Ex. 29:3, 23; Lev. 8:2, 26, 31;
Num. 6:15, 17, 19). Sometimes baskets were made of twigs peeled;
their manufacture was a recognized trade among the Hebrews.
(2.) That used (Heb. salsilloth') in gathering grapes (Jer.
6:9).
(3.) That in which the first fruits of the harvest were
presented, Heb. tene, (Deut. 26:2, 4). It was also used for
household purposes. In form it tapered downwards like that
called _corbis_ by the Romans.
(4.) A basket (Heb. kelub) having a lid, resembling a
bird-cage. It was made of leaves or rushes. The name is also
applied to fruit-baskets (Amos 8:1, 2).
(5.) A basket (Heb. dud) for carrying figs (Jer. 24:2), also
clay to the brick-yard (R.V., Ps. 81:6), and bulky articles (2
Kings 10:7). This word is also rendered in the Authorized
Version "kettle" (1 Sam. 2:14), "caldron" (2 Chr. 35:13),
"seething-pot" (Job 41:20).
In the New Testament mention is made of the basket (Gr.
kophinos, small "wicker-basket") for the "fragments" in the
miracle recorded Mark 6:43, and in that recorded Matt. 15:37
(Gr. spuris, large "rope-basket"); also of the basket in which
Paul escaped (Acts 9:25, Gr. spuris; 2 Cor. 11: 33, Gr. sargane,
"basket of plaited cords").
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