Both Uses of
debase
in
Gone with the Wind
- How could she, Ellen's daughter, with her upbringing, have sat there and listened to such debasing words and then made such a shameless reply?†
Chpt 3.19 *debasing = degrading (decreasing) the purity, quality, or status of something
- Drink and dissipation had done their work on the coin-clean profile and now it was no longer the head of a young pagan prince on new-minted gold but a decadent, tired Caesar on copper debased by long usage.†
Chpt 5.63debased = degrade (decreased) the purity, quality, or status of something
Definition:
to degrade (decrease) the purity, quality, or status of something -- often morality or metals