noun
- plural of fathom; units of length equal to 6 feet, used to measure water depth
Usage: nautical
verb
- to understand or figure out the meaning of something
- to measure the depth of water using a fathom or sounding line
Usage: nautical
Examples
- The ship's captain ordered the crew to measure the water depth in fathoms.
- I cannot fathom why she would make such a strange decision.
- The sailors fathomed the harbor and found it was deep enough for the vessel.
- It took me a while to fathom the instructions for assembling the furniture.
- The ocean at that location is approximately 200 fathoms deep.
- Can you fathom how much time and effort went into this project?