Definition

1. Noun:

   • A unit of length for measuring water depth: A fathom is a nautical unit of measurement equal to six feet (approximately 1.8288 meters), primarily used to express the depth of water.
   • A unit of volume in mining: In mining contexts, a fathom is a unit of volume for ore, equal to six cubic feet.

2. Verb:

   • To measure depth: To fathom means to measure the depth of a body of water, typically using a sounding line.
   • To comprehend or understand: To fathom means to penetrate and understand something complex, profound, or mysterious.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The shipwreck lies at a depth of twenty fathoms.
  • The old mining report listed the yield in fathoms of ore.

• Verb:

  • The sailor used a weighted line to fathom the harbor's depth.
  • I cannot fathom why she made such a drastic decision.

Advanced Usage

• "to fathom something out": To succeed in understanding or solving something puzzling.
  • It took me hours to fathom out the instructions for the new software.

Variants and Related Words

• Fathomable (adj): Capable of being understood or measured.
  • The concept was complex but ultimately fathomable.
• Fathomless (adj): Too deep or complex to be measured or understood; unfathomable.
  • She stared into the fathomless depths of the ocean.
• Unfathomable (adj): Incapable of being fully understood or explored.
  • The universe holds unfathomable mysteries.

Synonyms

• Verb (measure): Sound, plumb, gauge.
• Verb (understand): Comprehend, grasp, penetrate, discern.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Fathom out: To finally understand something after thinking about it.
  • Can you fathom out what this cryptic message means?

Related Idioms

• "Can't fathom it": A common expression meaning one is completely unable to understand something.
  • His motives are so strange; I just can't fathom it.

Noun

1. (mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore
2. a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth

Verb

1. measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line
2. come to understand