: to moisten (foods, especially meat) at intervals with a liquid (such as melted butter, fat, or pan drippings) especially during the cooking process to prevent drying and add flavor
Middle English basten, borrowed from Middle French bastir, going back to Old Low Franconian *bastjan, going back to Germanic, "to bind or weave with bast strips" (whence Middle Dutch besten "to tie up, fasten with loose stitches," Old High German, "to bind with bast, mend"), verbal derivative of *basta-bast
Verb (2)
Middle English baisten, of obscure origin
Verb (3)
probably from Old Norse beysta; akin to Old English bēatan to beat