bash
/bæʃ/verb, noun
bash is spelled B-A-S-H: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.5 times per million words in written English, the 9,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Bash, the name). As a verb, bash means “To strike heavily; to beat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bash?
| Letters | 4: B-A-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.5 times per million words; the 9,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bash?
Bash appears 6.5 times per million words in written English, the 9,463rd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Bash, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bash?
- /bæʃ/
Bash has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-bash.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bash.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with bash?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as bash.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shab.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bash
- bashes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- bashing participle, present
- bashed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bash mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
informalTo strike heavily; to beat.
The thugs kept bashing the cowering victim.
- 2
informalTo collide; used with into or together.
Don't bash into me with that shopping trolley.
- 3
informalTo criticize harshly.
He bashed my ideas.
- 4
obsoleteTo abash (make ashamed)
noun
- 1
informalA forceful blow or impact.
He got a bash on the head.
- 2
informalA large party; a gala event.
They had a big bash to celebrate their tenth anniversary.
- 3
UKinformalAn attempt at doing something.
give something a bash
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bash come from?
From Middle English *basshen, *basken, likely from Old Norse *baska (“to strike”), akin to Swedish basa (“to baste, whip, lash, flog”), Danish baske (“to beat, strike, cudgel”), German patschen (“to slap”)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).