baste1
/beɪst
/verb [with object]
Pour fat or juices over (meat) during cooking in order to keep it moist: slip herbs under the skin and baste the chicken constantly (as noun basting) keep any remaining sauce ready for basting...
- Always heat your marinades before basting meat or poultry.
- Mop sauce gets its name from a utensil similar to a small string mop that the chuck wagon cook would use to baste meats, literally mopping on the sauce while cooking.
- You want to look for a brisket with the most fat, because it protects and bastes the meat naturally.
Derivatives
baster
/ noun ...- My friend swears by her turkey baster for making some of the most scrumptious roast potatoes I have ever eaten.
- And if you have the time and energy, and a baster - do baste the bird periodically with the juices collecting in the pan.
- I use a turkey baster as it gives me more control than using measuring spoons… Make sure you scrape the mixture from the sides and bottom of the pan.
Origin
Late 15th century: of unknown origin.
lambaste from mid 17th century:
The early sense recorded for lambaste was ‘beat, thrash’: it comes from late 16th-century lam meaning ‘beat soundly’ and mid 16th-century baste meaning ‘thrash’, both probably of Scandinavian origin. The sense ‘criticize harshly’ dates from the late 19th century. The US expression on the lam ‘in flight’ developed from lam in the late 19th century.
Rhymes
baste2
/beɪst/verb [with object] Needlework
Tack with long, loose stitches in preparation for sewing: baste the zip under the edges so that it is concealed (as noun basting) stitch in place over the basting...
- Turn the lining inside out to enclose seams and baste the lining loose edges to the suit front at the leg openings, neckline and armholes.
- The ribs have a tendency to slip, so pin or baste well prior to stitching the seams.
- Substitute basting tape or basting-adhesive glue stick for basting stitches whenever practical, even for holding zippers in place.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French bastir 'sew lightly', ultimately of Germanic origin and related to bast.
baste3
/beɪst/verb [with object] informal, dated
Beat (someone) soundly; thrash: go baste him one!...
- If she had had an umbrella she would have basted him over the head with it.
- They basted him for his labour, kept him prisoner.
- He was more mortified at that, than the feeling of the pain and he did not moan no matter how hard they basted him.
Origin
Mid 16th century: perhaps a figurative use of baste1.