Basin
Basin ({not transcribed}) , noun
[Old French bacin, French bassin, Late Latin bacchinus, from bacca a water vessel, from Latin bacca berry, in allusion to the round shape; or perh. from Celtic. Compare Bac.]
1.
A hollow vessel or dish, to hold water for washing, and for various other uses.
2.
The quantity contained in a basin.
3.
A hollow vessel, of various forms and materials, used in the arts or manufactures, as that used by glass grinders for forming concave glasses, by hatters for molding a hat into shape, etc.
4.
A hollow place containing water, as a pond, a dock for ships, a little bay. — Pope
5.
(a) (Physical Geography) A circular or oval valley, or depression of the surface of the ground, the lowest part of which is generally occupied by a lake, or traversed by a river.
(b)
(Physical Geography) The entire tract of country drained by a river, or sloping towards a sea or lake.
6.
(Geology) An isolated or circumscribed formation, particularly where the strata dip inward, on all sides, toward a center; -- especially applied to the coal formations, called coal basins or coal fields.