a bowl-shaped vessel; usually used for holding food or liquids
"she mixed the dough in a large basin"
a natural depression in the surface of the land often with a lake at the bottom of it
"the basin of the Great Salt Lake"
the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet
"flood control in the Missouri basin"
a wide bowl for washing, sometimes affixed to a wall
"After scrubbing my face at the bathroom basin, I dried it on the towel hanging nearby."
In plain English: A basin is a wide, shallow bowl used for holding water or other liquids.
"We filled the basin with water to wash the vegetables."
Usage: Use basin to refer to a wide, deep bowl used for holding water or other liquids, such as a sink attached to a wall or a small container for washing hands. Do not confuse it with the geographical term for a large area of land drained by a river system.
To create a concavity or depression in.
"The heavy rain began to carve a deep basin into the soft clay bank where the river had overflowed."
In plain English: To basin something means to pour liquid from one container into another.
"The storm basin soaked up all the rainwater quickly."
Usage: Use "basin" only when describing the specific act of digging out or hollowing a surface to form a depression. In most other contexts involving water containers or geographical features, you should use the noun form instead.
A census-designated place in Jefferson County, Montana
"During our road trip through western Montana, we stopped for lunch in Basin to stretch our legs before heading west."
The word basin entered English from the Old French term bacin. It originally referred to a wide bowl derived from a Vulgar Latin root meaning the same thing.