Basin

(bā'sn.) [Fr. ba in.] A hollow ve el for keeping water.-(Geog.) The space of country drained by a particular river; as, the B. of the Mi i ippi, of the Amazons, .-(Geol.) The term is applied to depre ed portions of strata, forming a hollow surrounded by hills, as the " Paris basin." -(Mar.) The B. of a dock is a place where the water is confined by double flood-gates, used to contain ships either before they enter, or after they come out of the dock in which they are repaired. The B. of a haven is that part which opens from a narrow pa age into a spacious harbor. [s. 77]