cover one's bases

verb

To be thorough; to prepare thoroughly or completely.

“She eats a balanced diet, but takes vitamin pills anyway, to cover her bases.”

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Meanings

verbcover one's bases (third-person singular simple present covers one's bases, present participle covering one's bases, simple past and past participle covered one's bases)

present singular third person covers one's bases · participle present covering one's bases · participle past covered one's bases · past covered one's bases · alternative cover all of one's bases · alternative cover all the bases · alternative cover the bases

  1. idiomaticTo be thorough; to prepare thoroughly or completely.

    She eats a balanced diet, but takes vitamin pills anyway, to cover her bases.

Origin

From the rules of baseball, where the defending team needs to assign an infielder to each of the three outward-facing bases.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cover one's bases. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cover%20one's%20bases

MLA

“cover one's bases.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cover%20one's%20bases. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cover one's bases,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cover%20one's%20bases.

Source: cover one's bases on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.