electric bass

noun

plural electric basses
: an electrically amplified bass guitar
By 1951, when Fender unveiled the first fretted electric bass, … the trademark twang of Fender guitars had already begun to dominate chart hits.Rolling Stone

Examples of electric bass in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Mainly, however, the listeners just dug the music for its own in-the-moment sound, especially given that the instrumentation — with the use of guitar, electric bass and keyboards — was so different than anything found while Coltrane and Davis recorded together. Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 29 May 2026 His electric bass guitar hangs idly on a nearby wall. Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2026 His inventive, melodic approach to the electric bass helped expand the instrument’s scope from a subtle timekeeper to a defining voice in popular music. Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of electric bass was in 1951

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Cite this Entry

“Electric bass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/electric%20bass. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.

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