bath

n. [ Heb. ] A Hebrew measure containing the tenth of a homer, or five gallons and three pints, as a measure for liquids; and two pecks and five quarts, as a dry measure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Baths [ AS. bæð; akin to OS. & Icel. bað, Sw., Dan., D., & G. bad, and perh. to G. bähen to foment. ] 1. The act of exposing the body, or part of the body, for purposes of cleanliness, comfort, health, etc., to water, vapor, hot air, or the like; as, a cold or a hot bath; a medicated bath; a steam bath; a hip bath. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Water or other liquid for bathing. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A receptacle or place where persons may immerse or wash their bodies in water. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A building containing an apartment or a series of apartments arranged for bathing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Among the ancients, the public baths were of amazing extent and magnificence. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Chem.) A medium, as heated sand, ashes, steam, hot air, through which heat is applied to a body. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Photog.) A solution in which plates or prints are immersed; also, the receptacle holding the solution. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Bath is used adjectively or in combination, in an obvious sense of or for baths or bathing; as, bathroom, bath tub, bath keeper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Douche bath. See Douche. --
Order of the Bath, a high order of British knighthood, composed of three classes, viz., knights grand cross, knights commanders, and knights companions, abbreviated thus: G. C. B., K. C. B., K. B. --
Russian bath, a kind of vapor bath which consists in a prolonged exposure of the body to the influence of the steam of water, followed by washings and shampooings. --
Turkish bath, a kind of bath in which a profuse perspiration is produced by hot air, after which the body is washed and shampooed. --
Bath house, a house used for the purpose of bathing; -- also a small house, near a bathing place, where a bather undresses and dresses. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bathed p. pr. & vb. n. Bathing. ] [ OE. baðien, AS. baðian, fr. bæð bath. See 1st Bath, and cf. Bay to bathe. ] 1. To wash by immersion, as in a bath; to subject to a bath. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chancing to bathe himself in the River Cydnus. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To lave; to wet. “The lake which bathed the foot of the Alban mountain.” T. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To moisten or suffuse with a liquid. [ 1913 Webster ]

And let us bathe our hands in Cæsar's blood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To apply water or some liquid medicament to; as, to bathe the eye with warm water or with sea water; to bathe one's forehead with camphor. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To surround, or envelop, as water surrounds a person immersed. “The rosy shadows bathe me. ” Tennyson. “The bright sunshine bathing all the world.” Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The immersion of the body in water; as, to take one's usual bathe. Edin. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To bathe one's self; to take a bath or baths. “They bathe in summer.” Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To immerse or cover one's self, as in a bath. “To bathe in fiery floods.” Shak. “Bathe in the dimples of her cheek.” Lloyd. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bask in the sun. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who bathes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the character of bathos. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a building containing dressing rooms for bathers.
Syn. -- bathing machine. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a building containing public baths.
Syn. -- bagnio. [ WordNet 1.5 ]