Geol. [etymol. uncertain; ? from F. basset ‘a low stoole’ (Cotgr.); see BASSET sb.1] The edge of a geological stratum showing at the surface of the ground; an outcrop.
1686. Plot, Staffordsh., 131. To what points soever the rise & dip direct their course, the row, side basset or streek, lyes quite contrary.
1830. Edin. Encycl., III. 396. The regular basset or outcrop of the Bedford limestone.
attrib. 1791. E. Darwin, Econ. Veg., II. notes, A basset coal-mine at Woolarton in Nottinghamshire.
1851. Clarke, in Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XII. I. 264. The oolite range … presenting a lofty baset-edge to the west.
