basket

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A container made of interwoven material, such as rushes or twigs.
• noun The amount that a basket can hold.
• noun An item resembling such a container in shape or function.
• noun A usually open gondola suspended from a hot-air balloon.
• noun A group of related things, such as financial securities or products in a specific market.
• noun Either of the two goals normally elevated ten feet above the floor, consisting of a metal hoop from which an open-bottomed circular net is suspended.
• noun A field goal.
• noun Sports A usually circular or star-shaped structure at the base of a ski pole, used to prevent the pole from sinking too deeply into the snow.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To put in a basket.
• To cover or protect with basketwork.
• noun A vessel made of twigs, rushes, thin strips of wood, or other flexible materials, interwoven in a great variety of forms, and used for many purposes.
• noun The contents of a basket; as much as a basket will hold: as, a basket of fish.
• noun A measure for fruit, equal in the United States to three fifths of a bushel, and in Great Britain to about two bushels.
• noun Figuratively, that which is gathered or placed in a basket or baskets; provision for sustenance or use.
• noun In old stage-coaches, the two outside seats facing each other behind.
• noun In hat-making, a wickerwork or wire screen of an oval shape, for receiving the filaments of hair which are deposited on it in the operation of bowing.
• noun Milit., a gabion (which see).
• noun A protection of wickerwork for the handle of a sword-stick.
• noun In architecture, the echinus or bell of the Corinthian capital, denuded of its acanthus-leaves.
• noun In ichthyology, the gill-support in the lamprey (Petromyzon).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb rare To put into a basket.
• noun A vessel made of osiers or other twigs, cane, rushes, splints, or other flexible material, interwoven.
• noun The contents of a basket; as much as a basket contains.
• noun (Arch.), Improperly so used. The bell or vase of the Corinthian capital.
• noun engraving The two back seats facing one another on the outside of a stagecoach.
• noun A container shaped like a basket{1}, even if made of solid material rather than woven; -- the top is often, but not always, open and without a lid.
• noun a vessel suspended below a balloon, designed to carry people or measuring instruments for scientific research.
• noun (Basketball) A goal{3} consisting of a short cylindrical net suspended from a circular rim, which itself is attached at about ten feet above floor level to a backboard, placed at the end of a basketball court. In professional basketball, two such baskets are used, one at each end of the court, and each team may score only by passing the ball though its own basket. In informal games, only one such basket is often used.
• noun (Basketball) An instance of scoring points by throwing the basketball through the basket; ; -- the ball must pass through the basket from above in order to score points.
• noun (Zoöl.) an ophiuran of the genus Astrophyton, having the arms much branched. See Astrophyton.
• noun a hilt with a covering wrought like basketwork to protect the hand.
• noun work consisting of plaited osiers or twigs.
• noun (Zoöl.) a lepidopterous insect of the genus Thyridopteryx and allied genera, esp. Thyridopteryx ephemeræformis. The larva makes and carries about a bag or basket-like case of silk and twigs, which it afterwards hangs up to shelter the pupa and wingless adult females.
• noun a small basket{1} mounted on the end of a pole, used in churches to collect donations from those attending a church service; -- the long pole allows the collector to hold the basket in front of those at the end of the pew, while the collector remains in the aisle.
• noun a basket{4} used to hold waste matter, such as discarded paper, commonly shaped like a truncated cone, with the wide end open and at the top. Vessels of other shapes, such as oblong containers, are also called waste baskets.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
• noun A wire or plastic container similar in shape to a basket, used for carrying articles for purchase in a shop.
• noun In an online shop, a notional place to store items before ordering them.
• noun basketball A circular hoop, from which a net is suspended, which is the goal through which the players try to throw the ball.
• noun basketball The act of putting the ball through the basket, thereby scoring points.
• noun The game of basketball.
• noun A dance movement in some line dances, where men put their arms round the women's lower backs, and the women put their arms over the mens' shoulders, and the group (usually of four, any more is difficult) spins round, which should result in the women's feet leaving the ground.
• noun UK, slang Genitals.
• noun obsolete In a stage-coach, two outside seats facing each other.
• verb To place in a basket or in baskets.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the quantity contained in a basket
• noun a container that is usually woven and has handles
• noun a score in basketball made by throwing the ball through the hoop