[ba.sin] n [ME, fr. OF bacin, fr. LL bacchinon] (13c) 1 a: an open usu. circular vessel with sloping or curving sides used typically for holding water for washing b chiefly Brit: a bowl used esp. in cooking c: the quantity contained in a basin
2. a: a dock built in a tidal river or harbor b: an enclosed or partly enclosed water area 3 a: a large or small depression in the surface of the land or in the ocean floor b: the entire tract of country drained by a river and its tributaries c: a great depression in the surface of the lithosphere occupied by an ocean
4: a broad area of the earth beneath which the strata dip usu. from the sides toward the center -- ba.sin.al adj -- ba.sined adj -- ba.sin.ful n