bargain basement

See also: bargain-basement

English

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Noun

bargain basement (plural bargain basements)

An area within a retail store, especially an area located below ground level, where the least costly merchandise can be found.
- 1922, Christopher Morley, chapter 6, in Where the Blue Begins:
  "Where will I find an aluminum cooking pot?" growled the elder Beagle unexpectedly.
  "In the Bargain Basement," said Gissing promptly.
- 1949 April 11, “Business & Finance: Basement Bedlam”, in Time, retrieved 5 August 2013:
  To proper Bostonians . . . it was not quite a riot: it was merely the first big postwar men's-wear sale at Filene's bargain basement.
(attributively, often hyphenated) Inexpensive.
- 1987 June 18, “Soviets to offer bargain-basement satellite launches”, in The Courier, Arizona, USA, retrieved 5 August 2013, page 3A:
  The Soviet Union is offering to send commercial satellites into orbit at bargain-basement prices.
- 2007 January 19, Stephen Holden, “A Producer for All Seasons (Also Juggles)”, in New York Times, retrieved 5 August 2013:
  An ebullient woman aswirl in colorful layers of bargain-basement clothes and zany hats, Barbara Siegel also happens to be chairwoman of the Drama Desk nominating committee.
(idiomatic, attributively, often hyphenated) Of poor quality; of little or no value; low-end, shoddy.
- 1965 July 30, “The Law: Police: Deputy Doe, B.A.”, in Time, retrieved 5 August 2013:
  "This nation can't afford bargain-basement cops any more," says Oregon's Multnomah County (Portland) Sheriff Donald Clark. . . . Almost everyone agrees that U.S. police sorely need more education.
- 1984 March 27, “Democrats Stall Anti-crime Bill, Reagan Hints”, in Schenectady Gazette, retrieved 5 August 2013, page 12:
  "We are not going to ask the brave young men and women who defend this country to put their lives on the line using obsolete weapons and bargain-basement equipment."

References

“bargain basement”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.