semibasement

plural semibasements · alternative semi-basement · alternative semi basement

1. A basement which is only partially below ground level.

   Many property owners converted their basements into secondary suites in cities like Vancouver, where semibasements are typical. These owners ingeniously created thousands of new housing units by adding extra living space, converting underused spaces, and creatively carving out space.

   2022 December 20, Vinit Mukhija, Remaking the American Dream: The Informal and Formal Transformation of Single-Family Housing Cities, Cambridge, M.A.; London: The MIT Press, →ISBN, page 237

   1 more example

   In what has become the South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's highest-grossing film, a struggling family of four, the Kims, who live in a semi-basement apartment in a forgotten warren of Seoul, ingratiate themselves through lies, document forgeries, and beguiling charm into service roles at the pristine home of the rich Park family.

   2019 December 4, Ian Crouch, “The Best Jokes of 2019”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2023

   Synonyms: half basement, halfbasement, half-basement, partial basement