1. [SUB- 3.] a. Archit. The lowest part of a base that is divided horizontally.
1826. Britton, Exeter, 91. A charge of 5l. 6s. 8d. for four columns, with bases, sub-bases, and capitals.
1851. Pugin, Chancel Screens, 29. [The screen] of S. Mark [Venice] is open above the subase [sic]
b. A base placed under the bottom of a machine or other apparatus to raise it higher from the ground.
1904. Electr. Rev., 24 Sept., 489. The whole turbine … being mounted on a sub-base.
2. [SUB- 5 b.] A secondary base.
1903. Science, 9 Oct., 478. Mr. Peary … will … after establishing a sub-base there, force his way northward to the northern shore of Grant Land.
