From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbasementbase‧ment /ˈbeɪsmənt/ ●●● S2 noun [countable] DHHa room or area in a building that is under the level of the ground → cellar
Examples from the Corpus
basement• S., had 6 inches of water on the floor and a basement full of water.• In an urban environment, basement flats are not advisable for the single dweller.• The next morning, I go downstairs to my basement.• The first light of dawn found Joe in Lucy's basement room at the mews cottage.• Geophysicists believe the basement rock extends for tens of miles into the earth.• I had met Evan in the basement near the pool table.• I ran to the stairs, and down to the basement, to the empty store room.• The basement of the house had sustained heavy damage and part of the ceiling on the top floor had collapsed.Origin basement (1700-1800) Probably from → BASE2 