From Middle English basket, from Anglo-Norman baschet, basket, bascat, of obscure origin. Displaced native Old English mand. One theory is that it derives from Late Latin bascauda (“kettle, table-vessel”), from Proto-Brythonic (in Breton baskodenn), from Proto-Celtic *baskis (“bundle, load”), from purported Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“bundle”), but this is now widely viewed as a substrate word for phonetic reasons. Related to Latin fascis (“bundle, package, load”) (whence English fasces), Albanian bokshe (“bundle”), Breton bac'h (“bundle, load”), Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos) and βάσκιοι (báskioi) (“bundle (of sticks)”); see also faggot (“(originally) bundle of sticks”).
A lightweight woven container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
A basket of fake fruit adorned the table.
The earliest Wabanaki baskets were strong and bulky; practical tools for everyday life.2026 May 23, Hannah Martin, “Fancy Baskets”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 97:
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Broadly A bed for a cat.
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A wire or plastic container similar in shape to a basket, used for carrying articles for purchase in a shop.
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Internet In an online shop, a listing of a customer's chosen items before they are ordered.
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Figuratively A set or collection of intangible things.
The basket of issues that developing countries had vigorously wanted addressed such as agriculture, SANDD and implementation-related issues were given scant attention by developed countries for most part of the conference.2004, Gichinga Ndirangu, Heinrich Böll Foundation (Nairobi, Kenya), An African civil society action toward WTO 2003 (page 16)
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Ball games, Basketball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A circular hoop, from which a net is suspended, which is the goal through which the players try to throw the ball.
The point guard drove toward the basket.
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Ball games, Basketball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The act of putting the ball through the basket, thereby scoring points.
The last-second basket sealed the victory.
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The game of basketball.
Let's play some basket.
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A dance movement in some line dances, where men put their arms round the women's lower backs, and the women put their arms over the men's shoulders, and the group (usually of four, any more is difficult) spins round, which should result in the women's feet leaving the ground.
Slang The bulge of the penis seen through clothing.
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Obsolete In a stage-coach, two outside seats facing each other.
In my time, the follies of the town crept slowly among us, but now they travel faster than a stage-coach. Its fopperies come down not only as inside passengers, but in the very basket.1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer:
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Archaic A protection for the hand on a sword or a singlestick; a guard of a bladed weapon.
Baw! damme, but I'll fight you both, one after the other——with baskets.1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer:
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A usually disc-like piece attached near the bottom of a ski pole to prevent it from sinking too deep into the snow.
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Ballooning, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The gondola or wicker basket suspended from the balloon, in which the pilot and passengers travel.
Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
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Architecture The bell or vase of the Corinthian capital.
Thus the capital of the Corinthian column always resembles a deep narrow basket covered with a tile, and completely surrounded by foliage1832, Edward Hall, Civil Architecture:
From Middle English basket, from Anglo-Norman baschet, basket, bascat, of obscure origin. Displaced native Old English mand. One theory is that it derives from Late Latin bascauda (“kettle, table-vessel”), from Proto-Brythonic (in Breton baskodenn), from Proto-Celtic *baskis (“bundle, load”), from purported Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“bundle”), but this is now widely viewed as a substrate word for phonetic reasons. Related to Latin fascis (“bundle, package, load”) (whence English fasces), Albanian bokshe (“bundle”), Breton bac'h (“bundle, load”), Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos) and βάσκιοι (báskioi) (“bundle (of sticks)”); see also faggot (“(originally) bundle of sticks”).
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To place in a basket or baskets.
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Media, Publishing To cross-collateralize the royalty advances for multiple works so that the creator is not paid until all of those works have achieved a certain level of success.
Foreign language paperback, serial and book club would be basketed together in a 50/50 subsidiary rights clause.1974, Publishers Weekly, volume 206, numbers 1-14, page 70:
It may very well be that such "basketing" of hardcover, paperback, movie, and other rights within the divisions of […]1981, Thomas Whiteside, The Blockbuster Complex: