bask
to take pleasure in
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce hailed his team's outstanding start to the season but warned his players not to BASK in the glory.
(BBC News)
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Make books your companions; let your bookshelves be your gardens; BASK in their beauty, gather their fruit, pluck their roses, take their spices and myrrh.
(Samuel ibn Tibbon, Jewish philosopher and doctor)
(BBC News)
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Make books your companions; let your bookshelves be your gardens; BASK in their beauty, gather their fruit, pluck their roses, take their spices and myrrh.
(Samuel ibn Tibbon, Jewish philosopher and doctor)
Did you
know?
bask
verb
— to take great pleasure or satisfaction
— to expose oneself to pleasant warmth
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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While a majority of the English words have retained their original meanings, many have evolved over time, either changing meanings or taking on a new sense. Bask is a 14th century word that stems from "basken," which originally meant to wallow in blood. Basken further derived from an Old Norse word meaning "to bathe oneself."
The rather gruesome "blood" reference was eventually supplemented with the more pleasant sense of bathing in the sun. We can thank Shakespeare for this deed, as he was apparently the first to use bask in this way in his 1600 play As You Like It:
A fool, a fool! I met a fool in the forest,
A motley fool; a miserable world!
As I do live by food, I met a fool
Who laid him down and basked him in the sun
There are meanwhile several common things we can bask in, including:
— glow = a warm feeling (He was basking in the glow of his successful night at the poker table)
— glory = adoration, praise (She is basking in the glory of her Olympics gold medal)
— limelight = public attention (She has been basking in the limelight since winning the song contest)
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SYNONYMS
enjoy, revel in, wallow in, delight in, take pleasure in, take satisfaction in, indulge in, relish in
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"He's a very modest person who doesn't bask in his own success."
verb
— to take great pleasure or satisfaction
— to expose oneself to pleasant warmth
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
While a majority of the English words have retained their original meanings, many have evolved over time, either changing meanings or taking on a new sense. Bask is a 14th century word that stems from "basken," which originally meant to wallow in blood. Basken further derived from an Old Norse word meaning "to bathe oneself."
The rather gruesome "blood" reference was eventually supplemented with the more pleasant sense of bathing in the sun. We can thank Shakespeare for this deed, as he was apparently the first to use bask in this way in his 1600 play As You Like It:
A fool, a fool! I met a fool in the forest,
A motley fool; a miserable world!
As I do live by food, I met a fool
Who laid him down and basked him in the sun
There are meanwhile several common things we can bask in, including:
— glow = a warm feeling (He was basking in the glow of his successful night at the poker table)
— glory = adoration, praise (She is basking in the glory of her Olympics gold medal)
— limelight = public attention (She has been basking in the limelight since winning the song contest)
---
SYNONYMS
enjoy, revel in, wallow in, delight in, take pleasure in, take satisfaction in, indulge in, relish in
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"He's a very modest person who doesn't bask in his own success."
