See bargain basement on Wiktionary
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"ref": "1922, Christopher Morley, chapter 6, in Where the Blue Begins:",
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"ref": "1949 April 11, “Business & Finance: Basement Bedlam”, in Time, retrieved 05 Aug 2013:",
"text": "To proper Bostonians […] it was not quite a riot: it was merely the first big postwar men's-wear sale at Filene's bargain basement.",
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"An area within a retail store, especially an area located below ground level, where the least costly merchandise can be found."
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"ref": "2025 October 7, Jason Zinoman, “What Clowns! (That’s a Compliment)”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:",
"text": "But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer.",
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"ref": "2026 April 21, Cal Flyn, “On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "When you shoot an animal in Mozambique, as in many African countries, you must pay a predetermined sum. Stones offers the menu on his website: impalas ($600) and warthogs ($700) are the bargain basement. He could arrange for you to shoot a crocodile or even a hippopotamus, if you so wish, for a mere $5,800. A leopard – currently classed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature − will set you back $11,650. A lion? $25,000. Lions, Stones noted drily, are “not something you dish out like doughnuts”.",
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"ref": "1987 June 18, “Soviets to offer bargain-basement satellite launches”, in The Courier, Arizona, USA, retrieved 05 Aug 2013, page 3A:",
"text": "The Soviet Union is offering to send commercial satellites into orbit at bargain-basement prices.",
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"ref": "2007 January 19, Stephen Holden, “A Producer for All Seasons (Also Juggles)”, in New York Times, retrieved 05 Aug 2013:",
"text": "An ebullient woman aswirl in colorful layers of bargain-basement clothes and zany hats, Barbara Siegel also happens to be chairwoman of the Drama Desk nominating committee.",
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"ref": "1965 July 30, “The Law: Police: Deputy Doe, B.A.”, in Time, retrieved 05 Aug 2013:",
"text": "\"This nation can't afford bargain-basement cops any more,\" says Oregon's Multnomah County (Portland) Sheriff Donald Clark […]. Almost everyone agrees that U.S. police sorely need more education.",
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"ref": "1984 March 27, “Democrats Stall Anti-crime Bill, Reagan Hints”, in Schenectady Gazette, retrieved 05 Aug 2013, page 12:",
"text": "\"We are not going to ask the brave young men and women who defend this country to put their lives on the line using obsolete weapons and bargain-basement equipment.\"",
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"Of poor quality; of little or no value; low-end, shoddy."
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"(figurative, attributively, derogatory) Of poor quality; of little or no value; low-end, shoddy."
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"text": "But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer.",
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"ref": "1987 June 18, “Soviets to offer bargain-basement satellite launches”, in The Courier, Arizona, USA, retrieved 05 Aug 2013, page 3A:",
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64
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"ref": "2007 January 19, Stephen Holden, “A Producer for All Seasons (Also Juggles)”, in New York Times, retrieved 05 Aug 2013:",
"text": "An ebullient woman aswirl in colorful layers of bargain-basement clothes and zany hats, Barbara Siegel also happens to be chairwoman of the Drama Desk nominating committee.",
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153
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"ref": "1984 March 27, “Democrats Stall Anti-crime Bill, Reagan Hints”, in Schenectady Gazette, retrieved 05 Aug 2013, page 12:",
"text": "\"We are not going to ask the brave young men and women who defend this country to put their lives on the line using obsolete weapons and bargain-basement equipment.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
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"(figurative, attributively, derogatory) Of poor quality; of little or no value; low-end, shoddy."
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Download raw JSONL data for bargain basement meaning in All languages combined (5.9kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.