Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A unit of length equal to 6 feet (1.83 meters), used principally in the measurement and specification of marine depths.
- transitive verb To penetrate to the meaning or nature of; comprehend.
- transitive verb To determine the depth of; sound.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Originally, the space to which a man may extend his arms; specifically, a measure of length containing 6 feet: used chiefly in nautical and mining measurements.
- noun Hence Mental reach or scope; penetration; the extent of capacity; depth of thought or contrivance.
- To encompass with the arms extended or encircling.
- To reach in depth by measurement in fathoms; sound; try the depth of; penetrate to or find the bottom or extent of.
- Hence To penetrate with the mind; comprehend.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To encompass with the arms extended or encircling; to measure by throwing the arms about; to span.
- transitive verb To measure by a sounding line; especially, to sound the depth of; to penetrate, measure, and comprehend; to get to the bottom of.
- noun A measure of length, containing six feet; the space to which a man can extend his arms; -- used chiefly in measuring cables, cordage, and the depth of navigable water by soundings.
- noun rare The measure or extant of one's capacity; depth, as of intellect; profundity; reach; penetration.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete
Grasp ,envelopment ,control . - noun nautical A measure of
length corresponding to the outstretched arms, standardised to sixfeet , now used mainly for measuringdepths inseas oroceans . - noun by extension
Mental reach orscope ;penetration ; the extent ofcapacity ;depth of thought orcontrivance . - verb transitive, archaic To encircle with outstretched arms, especially to take a measurement; to
embrace . - verb transitive To measure the depth of, take a
sounding of. - verb transitive, figuratively To get to the bottom of; to manage to
comprehend (a problem etc.).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line
- noun a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
- verb come to understand
- noun (mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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What I fail to fathom is why accumulating capital in these small, family pools is in any way good for the economy and/or the GDP, measured as the number of economic exchanges.
Think Progress » Number of millionaires in America increased 16 percent in 2009. 2010
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What I can not fathom is the support that progressive economists like Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong have shown for him throughout this crisis, and now for renomination.
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There are enough loopholes to ensure Google still gets to choose its response based on “disproportionate technical effort” What I cannot fathom is why the Google, home of the brilliant minds insists on storing IP addresses.
Google Changes Home Page, Adding Link to Privacy Policy - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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What I find very hard to fathom is that the Clintons who lost fair and square continue to seek ways to undermine Obama.
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The thing that's so fascinating and hard to fathom is how much he pushes himself to get it, to do it right.
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But the effect was huge, almost too huge to fathom from a personal perspective.
Archive 2005-07-10 Candace 2005
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But the effect was huge, almost too huge to fathom from a personal perspective.
Why the UK bombing seems more personal Candace 2005
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A British diplomat out at San Francisco said that the reason Soviet foreign policy was so difficult to fathom is that it is twice as foreign as any other.
The Russian Riddle 1946
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When we dried squash in the fall we strung the slices upon strings of twisted grass, each seven Indian fathoms long; an Indian fathom is the distance between a woman's two hands outstretched on either side.
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Something else they can’t fathom is why more of the American people voted for an African-American male and fewer voted for a Caucasian male, and that over 40% of Obama’s votes came from Caucasians.
Think Progress » McCain refuses to condemn Palin’s ‘reload’ rhetoric. 2010
fbharjo commented on the word fathom
just beyond reach?
compare to toise!
The 'toise' was introduced by Charlemagne in 790; it originally represented the distance between the fingertips of a man with outstretched arms, and is thus the same as the British 'fathom'.”
February 10, 2013