Depth Water Metres Great Depθ Extra Found Deep

• what's the depth of the water here?
• the depth of a cut/wound/crack
• water was found at a depth of 30 metres.
• they dug down to a depth of two metres.

depth

Word Family

• deep adjective adverb
• deeply adverb
• deepen verb
• depth noun
1. the distance from the top or surface to the bottom of something; a particular distance down from the surface of something
• What's the depth of the water here?
• the depth of a cut/wound/crack
• Water was found at a depth of 30 metres.
• They dug down to a depth of two metres.
• Many dolphins can dive to depths of 200 metres.
• The oil well extended several hundreds of feet in depth.
• The camera must be strong enough to resist the immense water pressure at depth.
• Most earthquakes occur at much shallower depths, usually less than 30 kilometres.

Extra Examples

• The clam burrows in the sand to a considerable depth.
• These fish are found at a depth of over 100 metres.
• They go down to great depths below the surface.
• Water normally moves more slowly at shallower depths.
• species that live at considerable depth
• He tried to establish the depth of the wound.
2. the distance from the front to the back of something
• The depth of the shelves is 30 centimetres.
3. the strength and power of feelings
• the depth of her love
• music of great emotional depth

Extra Examples

• the unexpected depth of his feelings for her
• The demonstration showed the depth of feeling against the war.
4. qualities that give somebody/something extra character and make them/it interesting
• The separate storylines really add depth and personality to the characters.
• This film lacks the complexity or depth of his best movies.
• Her paintings reveal hidden depths (= unknown and interesting things about her character).
5. the quality of knowing or understanding a lot of details about something; the ability to provide and explain these details
• SEE ALSO in-depth
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/in-depth
• a writer of great wisdom and depth
• His ideas lack depth.
• She has the ability to treat big subjects with breadth and depth.
• a job that doesn’t require any great depth of knowledge
• Younger students cannot be expected to have great depth of understanding.
6. the deepest, most extreme or serious part of something
• the depths of the ocean
• to live in the depths of the country (= a long way from a town)
• in the depths of winter (= when it is coldest)
• She was in the depths of despair.
• He gazed into the depths of her eyes.

Extra Examples

• the abyssal depths of the ocean
• sharks lurking in the murky grey depths of the sea
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.
• The ship's mast finally disappeared into the watery depths.
7. the strength of a colour
• Strong light will affect the depth of colour of your carpets and curtains.
8. the quality in a work of art or a photograph that makes it appear not to be flat
9. to be in water that is too deep to stand in with your head above water
• If you can't swim, don't go out of your depth.
• I don't like going out of my depth in the sea.
10. to be unable to understand something because it is too difficult; to be in a situation that you cannot control
• He felt totally out of his depth in his new job.
• The writer seems a little out of her depth when dealing with the emotional issue involved.
11. in a detailed, careful and complete way
• I haven't looked at the report in depth yet.
• an in-depth study
• I studied phonology in depth at college.
12. to be or to experience an extreme example of something unpleasant
• His latest novel plumbs the depths of horror and violence.
• It was at that stage in her life when she plumbed the depths of despair.
• The team's poor performances plumbed new depths last night when they lost 10–2.
• The story plumbed the depths of tabloid journalism.
13. the quality of being strong because you have a great variety of good people, ideas, etc. that can contribute to the success of something
• The French team does not have the strength in depth that the Australians have.

Word Origin

• late Middle English: from deep + -th, on the pattern of pairs such as long, length.