(depths)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
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...
They were detected at depths of more than a kilometre in the sea.
N-VAR: oft amount in N, with poss, N of amount
2.
The depth of something such as a cupboard or drawer is the distance between its front surface and its back.
N-VAR: oft amount in N, with poss, N of amount
3.
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...
= strength
N-VAR: usu N of n
4.
The depth of a situation is its extent and seriousness.
The country's leadership had underestimated the depth of the crisis.
= severity
N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n
5.
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...
N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n
6.
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...
N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl
7.
The depths are places that are a long way below the surface of the sea or earth. (LITERARY)
The ship vanished into the depths.
N-PLURAL: the N
8.
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...
N-PLURAL: the N of n
9.
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 sick.
N-PLURAL: the N of n
10.
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.
N-PLURAL: the N of n
11.
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...
PHRASE: PHR after v
12.
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...
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
13.
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.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
14.
to
plumb new depths: see
plumb
to
plumb the depths: see
plumb