subbasement

noun

sub·​base·​ment ˌsəb-ˈbās-mənt How to pronounce subbasement (audio)
variants or sub-basement
plural subbasements or sub-basements
: a basement or an underground story located below the main basement of a building
… describing in loving detail the enormous, complex structure from the bottom up, its subbasement … is full of gleaming pipes, turbines and boilers.Burton Bernstein

Examples of subbasement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The building was used to bottle and distribute milk to retail locations by train — the train tracks are still located in the subbasement of the building. Caroline Linton, CBS News, 1 Oct. 2024 Reading them has become our favorite — and often only — form of recreation here under the flickering fluorescent lights in the subbasement mailroom at the Department of Data. Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 14 June 2024 For one thing, the hotel’s reputation had plummeted into its subbasement, with mocking public complaints about peeling wallpaper, worn furniture and bedbugs. Dan Barry, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2023 Halley Zelicoff, a food stylist, has been to 30 of Mr. Trinidad’s dinners, including the first, which was held in a subbasement of a warehouse. Robert Simonson, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2022 My second magnetic resonance defecography is in the subbasement of Mount Sinai. Cara Schacter, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2022 But Powell was struck by the show’s final scene in the building’s subbasement where five men were taking out mountains of trash. Carmine Gallo, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2021 The earth proves to have a subbasement utopia of pale, wise beings who fear and marvel at their visitors. Paul Collins, The New Yorker, 28 Nov. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'subbasement.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1776, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of subbasement was circa 1776

Dictionary Entries Near subbasement

Cite this Entry

“Subbasement.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subbasement. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!