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 a basket by a string through the gaol windows, soliciting the alms of passers-by.—See also Angling for farthings.

1632. Massinger and Field, Fatal Dowry, v., 1. Pontalier [to Liladam, who is in custody for debt].

Arrested! this is one of those whose base And abject flattery help'd to dig his grave; He is not worth your pity, nor my anger; Go to the basket, and repent.

1700. Gentleman Instructed [1732], p. 6. God be praised! I am not brought to the basket, though I had rather live on charity than rapine. [d.]

To be left in the basket, phr. (common).—To be rejected; abandoned; unchosen. Cf., second quotation.

1840. Barham, I. L. (House Warning).

Whatever he wants, he has only to ask it, And all other suitors are left in the basket.

1874. Bell's Life, 26 Dec. The pick of the basket, a compact young greyhound.

Basket-Making, subs. (old).—When enceinte a woman was formerly said 'to have a kid in the basket.' [Cf., Bay-window.] Hence basket-making to signify the act of copulation.

Bass, subs. (popular).—A familiar abbreviation for Bass' ale, brewed at Burton-on-Trent.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley ('Cuthbert Bede'), Adventures of Verdant Green, p. 23. The young gentleman exhibited great capacity for the beer of Bass, and the porter of Guiness.

1863. Oudia, Held in Bondage, I., p. 65. Those idle lads in the Temple, who smoke cavendish and drink Bass. Ibid, p. 126. Discussing Bass and a cold luncheon.

1868. Miss Braddon, Only a Clod, I., p. 138. A lot of fellows drinking no end of Bass.

18(?). Annie Thomas, A Passion in Tatters, I., p. 110. Bass that was not worthy of its name.

Baste, verb (colloquial).—To thrash; to beat soundly. This verb is given a place here for the purpose of comparison, as it is somewhat uncertain whether it can with propriety be classed as slang. Of uncertain origin, but dating from the sixteenth century; to baste, properly 'to sew together loosely,' or 'to apply fat or gravy to a joint,' is, in its figurative usage, of more than passing interest when compared with anoint (q.v.), and other words employed in the same figurative sense. It is curious indeed to note the many synonymous analogues for a good beating or thrashing, all of which pertain more or less to slang. R. W. Hackwood [N. and Q., 7 S., vii., 153] mentions several, amongst others colting (q.v.), used by Marryat in Midshipman Easy. As bearing upon the general idea involved in this class of words, the quotation may be placed side by side with another from the King's Own by the same writer.

1830. Marryat, King's Own, ch. vii. 'He always carried in his pocket a colt (i.e., a foot and a half of rope, knotted at one end and whipped at the other), for the benefit of the youngsters, to whom he was a most inordinate tyrant.'

1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xii. 'Then he colted me for half-an-hour, and that's all.'

Colting like basting is of uncertain derivation. Comparing it, however, with analogous words, may we not take it, continues the writer referred to, as very closely associated