■ noun
1》 the lowest point or part of something.
↘the furthest part or point of something.
↘(also ~s ) the lower half of a two-piece garment.
2》 chiefly Brit. a person's buttocks.
3》 archaic stamina or strength of character.
4》 Physics one of six flavours of quark.
■ adjective in the lowest position.
↘in the furthest position away in a downhill direction.
■ verb
1》 (of a ship) touch the ~ of the sea.
2》 ( ~ out ) (of a situation) reach the lowest point before stabilizing or improving.
Phrases
at ~ fundamentally.
be at the ~ of be the fundamental cause or origin of.
the ~ falls (or drops ) out something suddenly fails or collapses.
~s up! informal said as a toast before drinking.
get to the ~ of find an explanation for (a mystery).
you ( can ) bet your ~ dollar informal a particular thing is bound to happen.
Derivatives
-~ed adjective
~less adjective
~most adjective
Origin
OE botm , of Gmc origin.