bargain basement

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bargain basement (plural bargain basements)

1. 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.

   • 2025 October 7, Jason Zinoman, “What Clowns! (That’s a Compliment)”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer.

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bargain basement (comparative more bargain basement, superlative most bargain basement)

1. (figurative, somewhat derogatory) 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.

2. (figurative, attributively, derogatory) 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."

• “bargain basement”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.