bas·ket 
(băskĭt)
(băskĭt)n. pl. baskets
1.
a. A container made of interwoven material, such as rushes or twigs.
b. The amount that a basket can hold.
2. An item resembling such a container in shape or function.
3. A usually open gondola suspended from a hot-air balloon.
4. A group of related things, such as financial securities or products in a specific market.
5. Basketball
a. Either of the two goals normally elevated ten feet above the floor, consisting of a metal hoop from which an open-bottomed circular net is suspended.
b. A field goal.
6. Sports A usually circular or star-shaped structure at the base of a ski pole, used to prevent the pole from sinking too deeply into the snow.
[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman baschet, basket, alteration (with substitution of the original ending by -et, noun suffix) of a word akin to French dialectal bâchot, pannier, and Old French baschoe, wooden or wicker container, both ultimately from Latin bascauda, a kind of basin, of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish basc, neckband of beadwork, and Welsh baich, burden, load; further akin to Latin fascis, bundle.]
basket·ful′ n.
baskethot air ballooning