- depth
- [[t]de̱pθ[/t]]
♦♦♦depths1) N-VAR: oft amount in N, with poss, N of amount The depth of something such as a river or hole is the distance downwards from its top surface, or between its upper and lower surfaces.
The smaller lake ranges from five to fourteen feet in depth...
The depth of the shaft is 520 yards...
Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan to a depth of about 1cm...
They were detected at depths of more than a kilometre in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and North Sea.
2) N-VAR: oft amount in N, with poss, N of amount The depth of something such as a cupboard or drawer is the distance between its front surface and its back.3) N-VAR: usu N of n If an emotion is very strongly or intensely felt, you can talk about its depth.I am well aware of the depth of feeling that exists in Londonderry...
`Tough, isn't it?' was all she said, but Amy felt the depth of her unspoken sympathy.
Syn:4) N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n The depth of a situation is its extent and seriousness.The country's leadership had underestimated the depth of the crisis.
Syn:severity5) N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n The depth of someone's knowledge is the great amount that they know.We felt at home with her and were impressed with the depth of her knowledge...
It makes invaluable reading for anyone who wants to acquire a greater depth of understanding of the subject.
6) N-UNCOUNT The depth of a colour is its intensity and strength.White wines tend to gain depth of colour with age...
The blue base gives the red paint more depth.
Syn:intensity7) N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n In photography and art, you say that a picture has depth or depth of field when you mean that it appears three-dimensional rather than flat. [TECHNICAL]All the paintings are startlingly dramatic as a result of their depth of field and colour.
8) N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl If you say that someone or something has depth, you mean that they have serious and interesting qualities which are not immediately obvious and which you have to think about carefully before you can fully understand them.His music lacks depth...
There are hidden depths in all of us.
9) N-PLURAL: the N The depths are places that are a long way below the surface of the sea or earth. [LITERARY]Leaves, brown with long immersion, rose to the surface and vanished back into the depths.
10) N-PLURAL: the N of n If you talk about the depths of an area, you mean the parts of it which are very far from the edge....the depths of the countryside...
Somewhere in the depths of the pine forest an identical sound reverberated.
11) N-PLURAL: the N of n If you are in the depths of an unpleasant emotion, you feel that emotion very strongly.I was in the depths of despair when the baby was terribly sick every day, and was losing weight.
12) N-PLURAL: the N of n If something happens in the depths of a difficult or unpleasant period of time, it happens in the middle and most severe or intense part of it.The country is in the depths of a recession.
...the depths of winter.
13) PHRASE: PHR after v If you deal with a subject in depth, you deal with it very thoroughly and consider all the aspects of it.We will discuss these three areas in depth...
Their achievements have already been analysed in depth and do not require further discussion.
Syn:in detail, thoroughly14) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR If you say that someone is out of their depth, you mean that they are in a situation that is much too difficult for them to be able to cope with it.Mr Gibson is clearly intellectually out of his depth...
I'd always struggled at school. I hated it and felt out of my depth.
15) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you are out of your depth, you are in water that is deeper than you are tall, with the result that you cannot stand up with your head above water.
English dictionary. 2008.
