bottom
/ˈbɒtəm
/noun (usually the bottom)
1The lowest point or part of something: the bottom of the page she paused at the bottom of the stairs...
- They've signposted content with clear navigation and put neat section headers at the bottom of the front page.
- Instead of covering this as if it were the top story, put it on the bottom of the front page.
- At the bottom of the front page is a box stating: ‘As always, your feedback is very welcome.’
Synonyms
foot, lowest part, lowest point, base, extremity;
foundation, basis, support, substructure, substratum, groundwork, underpinning
1.1The ground under a sea, river, or lake: the liner plunged to the bottom of the sea...
- Many trolleys removed from supermarkets return damaged or end up at the bottom of a local lake or river.
- Their fertile farmland now lay at the bottom of the lake.
- ‘I had my suspicions that there might be relics from the film at the bottom of the river,’ he says.
Synonyms
floor, bed, ground, depths
1.2The lowest surface on the inside of a container: place the fruit on the bottom of the dish...
- So I threw it into the bottom of the bin and covered it with a pile of old Canberra Times.
- They're too tough, and the husk is still attached, and I always end up leaving them at the bottom of the container.
- One trick I have learnt is to put some bulbs at the bottom of the container so they flower in spring.
1.3The seat of a chair.
1.4chiefly British The furthest part or point of something: the shed at the bottom of the garden...
- His neighbours report that if he does exhibit any mild eccentricity, it is only his habit of spending hours locked in the shed at the bottom of his Oxford garden.
- Think of British inventors and you picture lone eccentrics toiling away in a shed at the bottom of the garden, seeking to make discoveries of genius.
- Mrs God would have been furious if she had found out that, after lunch, he was in the shed at the bottom of the garden tinkering with bits of disused jet aircraft.
Synonyms
the furthest part, the farthest point, the far end, the extremity
1.5The lowest position in a competition or ranking: he started at the bottom and now has his own business...
- I know schools can be transformative - even for those at the bottom of the ladder.
- The settlement gives more to higher grade officers then it does to those at the bottom of the ladder.
- In the arena of open competition, the talkers are quickly moved to the bottom of the rankings.
Synonyms
lowest level, lowest position, least important part, least successful part, least honourable part
1.6 (also bottoms) The lower half of a specified two-piece garment: a pair of pyjama bottoms...
- She still had an hour and a half, so she dressed in pajama bottoms and a shirt she stole from Vince's bag.
- She had changed from her mini skirt into pajama bottoms and a tight-fitting t-shirt that had an unprintable logo on it.
- Closing the basement door, she quickly changed into a pair of green pajama bottoms and a white tank top.
1.7 (bottoms) another term for bottomland. river bottoms...
- Beesley explains that the frantic mining had huge impacts on rivers and valley bottoms.
- It is primarily restricted to flat or sloping grasslands, often along valley bottoms or areas adjacent to vernal pools.
1.8The keel or hull of a ship: the double bottoms of the ship
2chiefly British A person’s buttocks: Toby pinched her bottom...
- At birth the newborn emerges into a world suddenly filled with sensations, including possibly a slap on the bottom.
- As Vernon explains, the slow, rhythmic grinding, bumping and shaking is great for toning bottoms, abdominal muscles, thighs, backs and arms.
- But, more to the point, do we really want the old blokes of the future to have cheeks as soft as babies' bottoms; to have foreheads as smooth as velvet and, overall, to appear as rugged as a sand dune?
Synonyms
rear, rump, rear end, backside, seat;
buttocks, cheeks, hindquarters, haunches;
French derrière;
German Sitzfleisch
technical nates
informal behind, sit-upon, stern, BTM, tochus, rusty dusty
British informal bum, botty, prat, jacksie
Scottish informal bahookie
North American informal butt, fanny, tush, tushie, tail, duff, buns, booty, caboose, heinie, patootie, keister, tuchis, bazoo, bippy
West Indian informal batty, rass
humorous fundament, posterior
British vulgar slang arse, clunge
North American vulgar slang ass
archaic breech
3 [mass noun] Physics One of six flavours of quark.Each quark can be chosen from any of six flavours: up, down, strange, charm, bottom and top....
- B-mesons are similar to neutral kaons but consist of an anti-down quark and a heavy bottom quark.
4 [mass noun] archaic Stamina or strength of character: whatever his faults, he possesses that old-fashioned quality—bottom
5 archaic A ship, especially a cargo carrier: the Americans placed an embargo on shipping in American bottoms to British areas
adjective
1In the lowest position: the books on the bottom shelf...
- So I've just put everything on the bottom shelf in the cupboard.
- One of the best magazines we discovered was not at Frieze but tucked away on the bottom shelf of the bookshop at Tate Modern.
- The children's books have occupied the bottom shelves where children can easily access them.
Synonyms
lowest, last, bottommost, undermost, ground
technical basal
1.1(Of a place) in the furthest position away in a downhill direction: the bottom field...
- The top terrace consists of a lawn surrounded by borders, the bottom terrace is a small, mown orchard.
- Divided into top and bottom terraces, both provide an incredible view to the Black Sea.
- Has the day come when now you check the computer for your cattle numbers instead of having to go down to the bottom field to do so?
1.2In the lowest or last position in a competition or ranking: I was put in the bottom class they came bottom with 17 points...
- You might want to temporarily cut rates for the bottom two income brackets.
- The top two from each pool will progress to the cup competition, while the bottom two will get a second bite of the cherry in the plate.
- Canada is increasingly divided between the few who have much and a growing bottom class that has little.
verb
1 [no object] (Of a ship) reach or touch the ground under the sea: nuclear submarines cannot bottom...
- British Waterways, which has to keep the river navigable, is under pressure to remove the silt after complaints that boats are bottoming on the river bed.
- Once bottomed, Dechaineux fired a series of yellow smoke candles every half an hour until found.
1.1 [with object] Australian /NZ Excavate (a hole or mine) to the level of a mineral-bearing stratum: scores of abandoned claims have never been properly bottomed, according to the old prospectors
1.2 [no object] Australian /NZ Find gold or other minerals while mining: he’s bottomed on opal there
1.3 [with object] archaic Find the extent or real nature of: he had bottomed the whole inquiry
2 [no object] (usually bottom out) (Of a situation) reach the lowest point before stabilizing or improving: encouraging signs suggested the recession was bottoming out...
- Although the situation has improved since bottoming out in 1998, the number of people facing the threat of poverty is from 30 percent to 60 percent of the population.
- ‘While the vacancy rate in Dublin is still relatively high in a European context, there is evidence that the situation is now bottoming out,’ Hunt said.
- One author predicted that the Dow is likely to fall as much as ninety-eight percent in early 2000s, and the market will probably not bottom out until it reaches a level of ninety-five.
Phrases
at bottom
be at the bottom of
the bottom falls (or drops) out
bottom of the harbour
bottoms up!
from the bottom of one's heart
from the bottom up
get to the bottom of
knock the bottom out of
you (can) bet your bottom dollar
Derivatives
bottommost
/ adjective ...- It is common in geology to regard the age of the bottommost organic sediments in wetlands as minimal estimates for the time of deglaciation or withdrawal of proglacial water bodies.
- Lastly, about the bottommost right portion of a web page, many people are actually having a hard time figuring out how to include the keywords in this section.
- You just pour melted chocolate into the bottommost bowl.
Origin
Old English botm, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bodem 'bottom, ground' and German Boden 'ground, earth'.
booty from Late Middle English:
The original core meaning of booty was ‘to distribute’. Victors in war divided the booty stolen from an enemy among themselves. The modern American word meaning ‘a person's bottom or buttocks’ is unconnected. It is probably an alteration of botty (late 19th century) in the same sense, itself an alteration of bottom, an Old English word used for the buttocks since the late 18th century. If someone urges you to shake your booty, they want you to dance energetically. A sexy woman has been bootylicious since 1994, although the word was popularized by the single of the same name by Destiny's Child in 2001.