bash

A forceful blow or impact.

Noun

  1. A forceful blow or impact.
    • He got a bash on the head.
  2. A large party; a gala event.
    • They had a big bash to celebrate their tenth anniversary.
    • The party level ramps up at Thornaby, where a gaggle of women on a 50th birthday bash join us. - 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 74:
  3. An attempt at doing something.
    • give something a bash
    • I'm not sure I'll be any good at this, but let me have a bash.
    • This was my first bash at macramé, so I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out.

    Synonyms: lash

Origin

From Middle English *basshen, *basken, likely from Old Norse *baska (“to strike”), akin to Swedish basa (“to baste, whip, lash, flog”), Danish baske (“to beat, strike, cudgel”), German patschen (“to slap”)

Forms

bashes

Derived

bash and grab basher bashfest bashless bashment bashtag bashy beer bash bushbash earbash kitbash megabash on the bash photobash

Verb informal

  1. To strike heavily; to beat.
    • The thugs kept bashing the cowering victim.
    • If the engine won't start, bash it with this hammer.
    • It was planned that the sick men were to crawl over and simultaneously seize the fire-arms and bash us with them while the women flung themselves upon the trackers. - 1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus...
  2. To collide; used with into or together.
    • Don't bash into me with that shopping trolley.
    • The bulls backed apart and ran together, tusks clashing — Ed held his trunk down while Conrad curled his high over his head, out of the way of Ed's tusks as the faces bashed together. - 1998, Katharine Payne, Silent...
  3. To criticize harshly.
    • He bashed my ideas.
    • The entertainment industry, the artistic community, and much of the educational establishment, which so profoundly influence American culture, relentlessly assault religion, promote promiscuity, encourage illegitimacy,...
    • This is consistent with new research about to be published by Tax Justice UK that found that, when making the case for a more progressive tax system, bashing the wealthy resonated far less well with voters than specific...

Forms

bashes bashing bashed

Derived

bashable bash about bashedness bash in bash into shape bash out bash someone's face in bash someone's head bash someone's skull bash the bishop bash together bash up fag-bash gay bash gay-bash note-bash note bash opinion bash queer-bash trans bash trans-bash unbashed

Verb obsolete, transitive

  1. To abash (make ashamed)
    • His countenance was bold and bashed not. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 37:

Origin

From Middle English baschen, baissen. See abash.

Forms

bashes bashing bashed