| 释义 |
▪ I. deep, a.|diːp|
Forms: 1 díop, déop, 2–3 deop, 2–5 dep, (3 dop, deap, dup, 4 dipe, dupe, duppe, (Ayenb.) dyep), 4–6 depe, (5 deype, 5–6 Sc. deip, 6 deape, diep(e), 5–7 deepe, 4– deep. compar. deeper; in 1 déopre, 4 deppere, 4–6 depper. superl. deepest; in 1 déopost, 4 depperste, 4–5 deppest(e, 5 deppist, dyppest.
[A Com. Teut. adj.; OE. díop, déop = OFris. diop, diap, diep, OS. diop. diap (MDu., Du., LG. diep), OHG. tiof (MHG., mod.Ger. tief), ON. djupr (Sw. djúp, Da. dyb), Goth. diups:—OTeut. *deupo-z, -â, -om, belonging to an ablaut series deup-, daup-, dup-, whence OE. dyppan (:—dupjan) to dip; pre-Teut. root dhub: dhup. The regular early ME. form was dēp; the forms dipe, düp, düpe, dyep, correspond to an OE. by-form diepe, dýpe, with ablaut; perh. taken from díepe, dýpe, deep n.]
I. Literal senses.
1. a. Having great or considerable extension downward.
854Chart. in Cod. Dipl. V. 111 Of lusan þorne to deopan delle. c1000Ags. Gosp. John iv. 11 Þes pytt is deop. c1205Lay. 647 He lette makien enne dic þe wes wnderliche deop [c 1275 swiþe deap]. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 6 Grante⁓brugge and Hontyndone [have] mest plente of dup fen. c1300St. Brandan 574 Ich caste him in a dupe dich. 13..Poems fr. Vernon MS. 578 Schip is more siker in luitel water Þen in þe deope see. 1340Ayenb. 264 Helle is..dyep wyþ-oute botme. c1420Avow. Arth. xvii, In a dale depe. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1679 Twa bestes come fra þe depe se. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 44 The greate deepe valleis. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 4 In the deepe bosome of the Ocean buried. 1632Lithgow Trav. v. 232 Wee buried the slayne people in deep graves. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 380 Holes..so deep as not to be fathomed. 1819Shelley Fragm. Serpent 4 Through the deep grass of the meadow. 1860Tyndall Glaciers i. vii. 55 [The stream] had cut a deep gorge in the clean ice.
b. Having great or considerable extension inward from the surface or exterior, or backward from the front.
a1000Riddles lvii. 4 (Gr.) Heaðoglemma feng, deopra dolᵹa. c1250Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 214 His wund dop ant wide. a1300Cursor M. 12923 (Cott.) He..yode in-to depe desert. c1400Destr. Troy 1876 Depe woundes to the dethe. 1513Douglas æneis vii. viii. 2 Mony wild beistis den and deip caverne. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 88 She presented me a Handkercher..with a deep frindge. 1665Hooke Microgr. 181 A deep Convex-glass. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 127 Make the Rooms next the Front deeper, or shallower. 1775Wraxall Tour North. Europe 303 Very deep and gloomy woods, of twenty English miles in length. 1820Shelley Summer & Winter 12 When birds die In the deep forests. 1842Tennyson Morte D' Arthur 5 His wound was deep.
c. deep water(s): see water n. 6 c.
d. deep end: the end of a swimming-pool at which the water is deepest; so in colloq. fig. phr. to go (in) off the deep end, etc.: to give way to emotion or anger; to ‘let oneself go’.
1921Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Dec. 853/3 Saint-Saëns rarely, if ever, takes any risks; he never, to use the slang of the moment, ‘went in off the deep end’. 1922Joad Highbrows vi. 186 She passed her life metaphorically at the end of a diving-board, ready at the slightest provocation to go in at the deep end. 1923Weekly Dispatch 21 Jan. 5 Mr. Nicholas Hannen..plays the second fiddling husband admirably, except when, once or twice, he goes off the deep end a trifle too explosively. 1924Galsworthy White Monkey ii. iv, Would it not be more in the mode, really dramatic—if one ‘went over the deep end’, as they said, just once? 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 115 A very common phrase since the war is to go (in) off the deep end, an expression evidently taken from the deep end of a swimming-bath where the diving board is. 1934F. W. Crofts 12.30 from Croydon vii. 84 Yes, I've been. And found the old boy brimming over with wrath against you. And when he heard I was coming on the same job he fairly went off the deep end. 1963T. Parker Unknown Citizen iii. 88 I'm not going to do what I've done before, go off the deep end, nothing like that. 1966G. Greene Comedians i. iv. 113 Mr Smith trundled to the deep-end before he emerged. 1970V. Gielgud Candle-Holders vii. 62 Simon Astley was too much like the instructor in a swimming-bath, who throws you in at the deep end.
2. a. Having a (specified) dimension downward.
The depth is sometimes indicated by prefixing a word giving the equivalent of a measure, as ankle-deep, knee-deep.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 1398 (Gr.) Fiftena stod deop ofer dunum flod elna. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 207 Two foote depe is good for corne tillage. 1576in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 386 He penned the water but one foote deepe. 1608Middleton Mad World iii, This puts me in mind of a hole seven foot deep; my grave. 1696Whiston Th. Earth ii. (1722) 221 The Waters might cover the Earth in general about 50 Miles deep. 1826Scott Woodst. xxviii, Long grass..almost ancle-deep in dew. 1832Examiner 44/2 The ditch..was eight feet deep. 1875F. Hall in Lippincott's Mag. XVI. 750/2 The mud was everywhere ankle-deep.
b. Having a (specified) dimension inward from the surface, outer part, or front; spec. (with simple numeral prefixed) of persons, chiefly soldiers, having (so many) ranks standing one behind another. Also, with numeral prefixed, having so many engagements or obligations.
1646H. Lawrence Comm. Angells 63 The pleasure is but skin deepe. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India 107 The first File..was as deep as the Street would admit. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 127 The Front-Room is 25 Foot, and the Back-Room 15 Foot deep. 1780Langton in Boswell Johnson (1848) 646/2 The company began to collect round him..four, if not five deep. 1835A. Burnes Trav. Bokhara (ed. 2) I. 133 Five regiments..drawn up in line, three deep. 1838Thirlwall Greece III. xxiii. 280 The Thebans..stood five-and-twenty deep. 1921Discovery Sept. 242/2 He proposed to her, and she accepted him—if he would wait his turn; she was four deep already! 1935W. Fortescue Perfume from Provence 109 The lawyer was always engaged six deep whenever I called to see him.
c. Cricket. Of a fielder or fielding position: farther than normal from the batsman. (See also deep field below.)
1867G. H. Selkirk Guide to Cricket Ground ii. 25 Deep Cover, etc. When twenty-two are in the field the men that stand far out are designated by the names of the positions of the men they support, with the word ‘deep’ prefixed. 1897K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket ii. 54 When a man is put on the boundary behind extra-cover or cover, he is usually called deep-extra-cover or deep-cover.
3. a. Placed or situated far (or a specified distance) down or beneath the surface; of a ship, low in the water. b. Far in from the margin, far back.
c1000Ags. Ps. cxiv. 8 Þu mine sawle..ofer deopum deaþe ᵹelæddest. a1340Hampole Psalter ix. 8 Þai þat has synned mare sall be deppest in hell. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxiv. 255 This Lond of Cathay is in Asye the depe. 1641Bp. of Lincoln in Cobbett Parl. Hist. 1807 II. 798 Yet shall you find St. Paul..intermeddle, knuckle deep, with Secular Affairs. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 19 It is a hot Ship, but deep and foul..a Prize worth fighting for. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 548 The frozen Earth lyes buried there..seven Cubits deep in Snow. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xiv. (1840) 246 We were now a very deep ship, having near two hundred tons of goods on board. 1842E. Wilson Anat. Vade M. 334 The deep veins are situated among the deeper structures of the body. 1885Gen. Grant Personal Mem. I. xxi. 297 A portion of the ground..was two feet deep in water.
c. spec. Of mining operations: far below the surface of the ground; so deep-mined a. (contrasted with opencast); deep lead: see lead n.2 6 b.
1839Penny Cycl. XV. 239/2 Even in very deep shafts, when complete, daylight may be seen from the bottom. 1860Mining Gloss. (ed. 2) 37 Deep level, the watercourse leading to the engine-shaft, being always the deepest adit in the mine. 1862Otago: Its Goldfields & Resources 18 The deep sinking has not, so far, realised the sanguine expectations once entertained regarding it. 1899Daily News 3 May 3/5 Deep-level mines and deep-level mining. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §581 Deep sinking labourer; navvy or miner engaged in sinking deep holes or shafts. 1948Ann. Reg. 1947 493, 4 million tons of deep-mined coal a week.
4. Of physical actions: Extending to or coming from a depth; also transf. of agents.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 437 b/1 He maketh a depe enclynacion. 1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 15 To be compted high fliers and deepe swimmers. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 106 Fetching a deepe sigh. 1711Addison Spect. No. 159 ⁋8, I here fetched a deep sigh. 1784Cowper Task v. 64 Fearful of too deep a plunge. 1866Huxley Physiol. iv. (1869) 102 In taking a deep inspiration.
†5. Of ground or roads: Covered with a depth of mud, sand, or loose soil. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 243 Deep was the way, for which the carte stood. c1470Henry Wallace v. 285 His hors stuffyt, for the way was depe and lang. 1523Act 14–15 Hen. VIII, c. 6 Many other common waies..be so depe and noyous, by wearyng and course of water. 1632Lithgow Trav. vi. 253 We incountred with such deep sandy ground. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. viii, To walk upwards of three hundred miles through deep roads. 1828T. C. Croker Fairy Leg. 167 The roads were excessively deep, from the heavy rains. [We now say ‘deep in mud, dust, etc.’]
II. Figurative senses.
* Of things, states, actions, etc.
6. a. Hard to fathom or ‘get to the bottom of’; penetrating far into a subject, profound.
c1000Ags. Ps. xci[i]. 4 Wæran ðine ᵹeþancas þearle deope. c1200Ormin 5501 Off all þe boc i Godess hus Þe deope diȝhellnesse. Ibid. 7205 Bisshopess off dep lare. c1325E.E. Allit. P. B. 1609 For his depe diuinité & his dere sawes. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1553 Þai left all depe questyouns. 1535Coverdale Ps. xci[i]. 5 Thy thoughtes are very depe. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 315 A man of deepe learning. 1611Bible 1 Cor. ii. 10. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. of Sterne i. 5 They suppose a work to be deep, in proportion to its darkness. 1860Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vii. iv. 150 A deep book..for deep people. 1875Helps Anim. & Mast. iv. 86 In this work..hopeful that I should find something very deep, and very significant.
b. Lying below the surface; not superficial; profound.
1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Char. Wks. (Bohn) II. 60 It is in the deep traits of race that the fortunes of nations are written. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 6 In all that belongs to its deeper significance. 1874― Compromise (1886) 28 Of these deeper causes, the most important..is the growth of the Historic Method.
†7. Solemn; grave:
a. of oaths, protestations, etc. Obs. (In OE. also of divine messages, etc.: Awful, dread, stern.)
a1000Cædmon's Exod. 518 (Gr.) Moyses sæᵹde haliᵹe spræce, deop ærende. a1000Guthlac 641 (Gr.) Þurh deopne dom. c1000Ags. Ps. cxxxi. 11 Þæs deopne áþ Drihten aswor. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 233 Grettore oþ non nys, Þan by þe olde chyrche of Glastynbury [h]wo so dep oþ nome. 1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 117 To sweare by deepe And very solemne othes. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. vii. 25 Nor are the deepest sacraments..of any force to perswade. 1649Bp. Hall Cases Consc. 59 Beleeving the sellers deepe protestation.
†b. Of grave consequence or effect; grave, serious, weighty, important. Obs.
1596Shakes. I Hen. IV, i. iii. 190 Ile reade you Matter, deepe and dangerous. 1605― Macb. i. iii. 126 The Instruments of Darknesse..Winne vs with honest Trifles, to betray's In deepest consequences. 1643Milton Divorce i. vi, This is a deep and serious verity. 1711Addison Spect. No. 26 ⁋6 A View of Nature in her deep and solemn Scenes.
8. As an attribute of moral qualities or of actions in which sinking or abasement is present.
a. Of sin, crime, guilt (into which one may fall or sink): Grave, heinous.
a1000Guthlac 830 (Gr.) Onguldon deopra firena. a1000Juliana 301 (Gr.) Þurh deopne ᵹedwolan. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Þanne þe sinfulle man beoð bifallen on depe sinne. a1400–50Alexander 1866 A depe dishonoure ȝe do to ȝoure name. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, ii. ii. 28 And with a vertuous Vizor hide deepe vice. 1605― Macb. i. vii. 20 The deepe damnation of his taking off. Mod. He is in deep disgrace.
b. Of humility, or of things humble or lowly.
a1225Ancr. R. 246 Auh habbe ȝe dope dich of deope edmodnesse. 1340Ayenb. 211 He ssel to god grede mid dyepe herte. [1843Carlyle Past & Pr. (1858) 159 Letters..answered with new deep humilities.]
9. Deep-rooted in the breast; that comes from or enters into one's inmost nature or feelings; that affects one profoundly.
a1400–50Alexander 265 With depe desire of delite. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i, iv. 69 If my deepe prayres cannot appease thee. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 451 Deep Horrour seizes ev'ry Humane Breast. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India 389 A deep sense of Honour. 1709Steele Tatler No. 107 ⁋1, I saw in his Countenance a deep Sorrow. 1795Southey Joan of Arc ix. 13 Through every fibre a deep fear Crept shivering. 1832H. Martineau Demerara i. 7 Alfred..yet entertained a deep dislike of the system. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 107 The manner, they said, is one..in which every Englishman..has a deep interest. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon II. 72 John's feelings were too deep for words.
10. Said of actions, processes, etc. in which the mind is profoundly absorbed or occupied.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 127 From the deep consideration and hard suppose of my present evils. 1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. Introd., In the deep Discovery of the Subterranean World. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, Gazing on her with that deep attention which marks an enamoured mind. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 85 He passed the next night in deep study.
†11.
a. Said of things involving heavy expenditure or liability; expensive; heavy. Obs.
1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 616 Ye Merchants lode them with deepe and unreasonable prices. 1649― Cases Consc. 43 The deep expence he hath beene at. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. vi. §5 The people paid deep Taxes. 1710Swift Jrnl. to Stella 29 Sept., I have the first floor, a dining-room and bed-chamber, at eight shillings a week; plaguy deep. 1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. ii. i, Overjoy'd for winning a deep Stake. 1781Cowper Expostulation 608 Chargeable with deep arrears.
b. Of drinking, gaming, or other practices.
1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 131 Deep swearings, not only needlesse, but also hurtfull. 1709Swift Adv. Relig., That ruinous practice of deep gaming. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §4 She took a turn towards expensive Diversions, particularly deep Play. 1827Scott Jrnl. 8 Jan., He could not resist the temptation of deep play. 1838Thirlwall Greece V. xlii. 220 Deep drinking was customary among the Thracians. [Here there is a mixture of senses.]
12. a. Of conditions, states, or qualities: Intense, profound, very great in measure or degree. Of actions: Powerfully affecting, mighty, influential.
1605Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows ii. §50 Without a deepe check to my selfe for my backwardnes. 1616tr. De Dominis' Motives 13 This consideration..hath in deepe measure seized upon mee. 1642Rogers Naaman 11 If the Lord having man at a deepe, yea infinite advantage. 1873Morley Rousseau I. 188 That influence..[gave] a deep and remarkable bias, first to the American Revolution, and a dozen years afterwards to the French Revolution. 1889J. M. Duncan Dis. Women xx. (ed. 4) 162 And in order to their examination, the deep influence of an anæsthetic is necessary.
b. Said esp. of sleep, silence, and similar conditions, in which one may be deeply plunged or immersed.
1547Boorde Brev. Health (1587) 34 a, The 83. Chapter doth shew of a terrible and depe slepe. c1585? J. Polmon Famous Battles 262 They maye be wrapped in deepe silence. 1601Holland Pliny I. 84 Drowned in deepe and thick darkenes. 1611Bible 2 Cor. viii. 2 Their deepe pouertie abounded vnto the riches of their liberalitie. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) VII. xvii. 345 Which at last ended in deep consumption. 1805Wordsw. Waggoner i. 6 In silence deeper far than that of deepest noon. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxii. (1856) 279 Now comes the deep stillness after it.
c. Used of the intense or extreme stage of winter, night, etc., when nature is ‘plunged’ in darkness or death.
a1555Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 323, I would be very loth, now this deep winter..to take such a journey. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. iv. 19 Deepe Night, darke Night, the silent of the Night. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 459 In the deepest cold weather he cometh into the Mountains of Norway. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. To Rdr. 3 In her deepe and declining age. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vii, It was deep night before he left Naples. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) v. iii, During the deepest part of the tragedy. 1821J. Baillie Met. Leg., Columbus xlix, But when the deep eclipse came on. 1851Hawthorne Wonder Bk., Gorgon's Head (1879) 87 It was now deep night.
13. a. Of colour (or coloured objects): Intense from the quantity of colour through or on which one looks; highly chromatic. The opposite of faint, thin.
1555Eden Decades 236 Iacinthes..are best that are of diepeste colour. c1600Shakes. Sonn. liv. 5 The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye As the perfumed tincture of the roses. 1665Hooke Microgr. 74 All manner of Blues, from the faintest to the deepest. Ibid., As the liquor grew thicker and thicker, this tincture appear'd deeper and deeper. 1668Excell. Pen & Pencil 81 In putting the deep and dark shadows in the Face. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 394 According as you would have it deeper or lighter. a1839Praed Poems (1864) I. 6 Like the glow of a deep carnation. 1873Black Pr. of Thule x. 164 Deeper and deeper grew the colour of the sun.
b. Qualifying names of colours.
Orig. with ns. of colour, as ‘a deep blue’ (F. un bleu foncé); when the colour word is used as an adj., deep becomes functionally an adv., and is sometimes hyphened: cf. deep adv. 2, 3 b.
1597Shakes. Lover's Compl. 213 The deepe greene Emrald. 1665Hooke Microgr. 73 Of a deep Scarlet colour. 1776Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 485 Petals..deep orange. 1831Brewster Optics xi. 99 Deep crimson red. 1883L'pool Courier 25 Sept. 4/6 Glittering on the deep blue dome.
c. deep mourning: complete or full mourning: that which symbolizes deep grief.
1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6084/6 The Coachman in deep Mourning. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. xviii. ⁋6 A lady dressed in the deepest mourning. 1863Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 167 [She] was very tall, dressed in deep black.
14. a. Of sound (or a source of sound): Low in pitch, grave; full-toned, resonant.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 12 Between two Dogs, which hath the deeper mouth. 1610― Temp. iii. iii. 98 That deepe and dreadfull Organ-Pipe. 1629Milton Ode Nativity xiii, And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow. 1704Pope Autumn 20 And with deep murmurs fills the sounding shores. 1828Scott F.M. Perth ii, ‘Why, so I can’..said one of the deepest voices that ever answered question. 1886Pall Mall G. 28 Sept. 14/1 He possesses a very fine deep bass voice.
b. with mixture of senses. Cf. 7, 9.
1605Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 27 Curses, not lowd, but deepe. 1818Shelley Rev. Islam vii. vii, They began to breathe Deep curses.
†15. Far advanced (in time), late. Obs. rare.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iv. i, I marle how forward the day is..'slight, 'tis deeper than I took it, past five.
** Of persons, and their faculties.
16. ‘Having the power to enter far into a subject’ (J.), penetrating, profound; having profound knowledge, learning, or insight.
c1200Ormin 7084 Þatt haffdenn dep innsihht and witt. c1400Destr. Troy 9237 Of wit noble, Depe of discrecioun. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. II. 43/2 A deepe clerke, and one that read much. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 75 Meditating with two deepe Diuines. c1610Middleton, etc. Widow i. ii, I shall be glad to learn too, Of one so deep as you are. 1640Bp. Hall Episc. i. v. 20 Wise Fregivillæus (a deep head, and one that was able to cut even betwixt the league, the Church, and the State). a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 212 He was no deep seaman. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xv. vi, The deepest politicians, who see to the bottom. 1781Cowper Conversation 741 The World grown old her deep discernment shows, Claps spectacles on her sagacious nose. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits i. Wks. (Bohn) II. 9 He [Carlyle] was clever and deep, but he defied the sympathies of everybody. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 19 There is none of Plato's writings which shows so deep an insight into the sources of human evil.
17. Profound in craft or subtlety; in mod. slang, profoundly cunning, artful, or sly.
1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 758 He was close and secret and a depe dissimuler. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 776 Oh depe and wretched dissimulation. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, ii. i. 38 Deepe, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 743 There is a Machiavelian plot..And deep design in 't. 1688Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia iii. (1720) 63 Fools! nay there I am sure you are out: they are all deep, they are very deep and sharp. 1712Steele Spect. No. 485 ⁋8 Which is the deeper man of the two. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xxxii, You're a deep one, Mr. Pip. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., ‘He's as deep as a well’, and ‘He's as deep as Wilkes’, are common expressions to indicate subtilty and craft.
18. Of an agent: Who does (what is expressed) deeply, profoundly, gravely, excessively.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 242 b, Amonge the most depe synners. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. ii. 73 Two deepe enemies, Foes to my Rest. 1615Stephens Satyr. Ess. (ed. 2) 378 Yet she is a deepe Idolater. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 279 She had been the deepest sufferer by far. 1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. (1875) 9 Shakspeare was no deep reader. 1884A. R. Pennington Wiclif ii. 28 A great favourite with deep thinkers.
19. a. Much immersed, involved, or implicated (in debt, guilt, ruin, drink, etc.); far advanced, far on.
Often passing into the adverb.
1567Damon & P. in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 76 For all their high looks, I know some sticks full deep in merchants' books. 1587R. Hovenden in Collectanea (Oxford Hist. Soc.) I. 215 Being..deepe in your Lordships debt. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 220 For in that sinne, he is as deepe as I. 1600― A.Y.L. iv. i. 220 How deepe I am in loue. 1638Junius Painting of Anc. 58 Comming from a drink-feast..deepe in drinke. 1662Hobbes Consid. (1680) 6 To his dammage some thousands of pounds deep. 1771T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) I. 53, I shall be at as great a loss, being the sum deep with my banker already. 1782Cowper Boadicea 16 Rome shall perish..Deep in ruin as in guilt. 1784― Task v. 494 The age of virtuous politics is past, And we are deep in that of cold pretence. 1856Macleod in Crump Banking i. 9 The Plebeians..got deeper and deeper into debt.
b. Greatly immersed, engrossed, absorbed (in some occupation).
1735Pope Ep. Lady 63 Now deep in Taylor and the Book of Martyrs. 1746Gray Lett. to J. Chute Wks. 1884 II. 131, I was in the Coffee-House very deep in advertisements. 1820Byron Mar. Fal. i. i. 3 Still the Signory is deep in council. 1855Browning By the Fireside iii, There he is at it, deep in Greek.
III. a. Examples of the comparative and superlative. Cf. Also deepmost.
a1000Cædmon's Exod. 364 (Gr.) Ðone deopestan drenc⁓floda. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6567 In deppest flod. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 344 Þe depperste place of helle. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. lv. (Tollem. MS.), Þe depper [1495 deper] þe diche is withinne. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 21 To þe deppest place. 1503Hawes Examp. Virt. xiii. 278 Then went we downe to a depper vale. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage viii. v. 760 Still waters are deepest. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxviii. 242 As well the Grave, as any other deeper place.
b. The superl. is used absol. = deepest part.
a1400–50Alexander 712 Into þe dyppest of þe dyke bothum. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 115 They wente and dwelled in the deppeste of the foreste of Ardeyne. 1556Aurelio & Isab. (1608) c, From the depest of the earth unto the greatest height of the heaven. a1861Clough Song of Lamech 92 And in his slumber's deepest he beheld..our father Cain.
IV. Comb.
a. Attributive uses of phrases, as deep-mouth (= deep-mouthed), deep-water, deep-well, deep-sea.
1795J. Phillips Hist. Inland Navig. 324 A deep-water canal at this place would be essentially useful. 1806Sporting Mag. XXVIII. 192 A deep-mouth Norman hound. a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 682/2 Deep-well pump, a pump specifically adapted for oil and brine wells which are bored of small diameters and to great depths. 1890Nature 10 Apr. 541 There will be no deep-water channel into the river. 1906Daily Chron. 5 Sept. 3/3 To allow these deep-well waters..to run heedlessly to waste, is a policy of which a later generation of Australians may have bitter cause for complaint. 1963Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) iv. 6 Deep well pump, any kind of pump delivering from a well, shaft or borehole.
b. Parasynthetic derivatives, forming adjectives, as deep-bellied [deep belly + -ed], having a deep belly, deep-bosomed [Gr. βαθύκολπος], deep-brained, deep-breasted, deep-browed, deep-chested, deep-coloured, deep-ditched, deep-eyed, deep-faced, deep-flewed, deep-grassed, deep-nosed, deep-piled, deep-rutted, deep-sighted, deep-thoughted, deep-throated, deep-toned, deep-vaulted, deep-voiced, deep-waisted, etc.
1682Lond. Gaz. No. 1744/4 A dark brown Mare..fat, and *deep-bellied.
1851Buckley Iliad 346 Trojan (dames) and *deep-bosomed Dardanians. 1876Pater Greek Studies (1895) 81 The deep-bosomed daughters of the Ocean. 1905R. Garnett Shakespeare 56 Not all deep-bosomed earth's wide fruitfulness. 1909Westm. Gaz. 14 Aug. 2/3 The brown-faced, deep-bosomed peasant women.
1597Shakes. Lover's Compl. 209 *Deep-brained sonnets.
1935W. G. Hardy Father Abraham 101 A tall, *deep-breasted woman was standing in the door of the tent.
a1821Keats Sonn. Chapman's Homer, *Deep-browed Homer.
1838James Robber i, He was both broad and *deep-chested.
1770Hamilton in Phil. Trans. LXI. 22 *Deep-coloured flames burst forth.
1548Hall Chron. 56 No stronger walled then *depe ditched.
1818Shelley Rev. Islam i. li, Sculptures like life and thought; immovable, *deep-eyed.
1908Westm. Gaz. 23 Dec. 4/1 A number of golfers playing with *deep-faced, round-headed drivers.
1735Somerville Chase i. 286 The *deep-flew'd Hound Breed up with Care. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 219 All light sharp-nosed dogs will always be much more inclined to riot than deep-flewed dogs.
1906Westm. Gaz. 21 May 1/3 The hedge on either side is just high enough to hide the *deep-grassed meadows.
1859Yarrell Brit. Fishes (ed. 3) II. 406 The *Deep-nosed Pipe-fish is immediately recognised by the compressed form of the face.
1876Rock Text. Fabr. 67 A dark blue *deep-piled velvet.
1836T. Hook G. Gurney i. iii. 217 At the corner of the *deep-rutted lane. 1899Daily News 19 Oct. 6/1 Transports stopped in the deep-rutted roads.
1622Massinger Virg. Mart. ii. i, Pimpled, *deep-scarleted, rubified, and carbuncled faces.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 128 A long, a large, and *deepe sided body.
a1797H. Walpole Mem. Geo. III (1845) I. viii. 117 Wholesome and *deep-sighted advice.
1668Lond. Gaz. No. 272/4 A *deep skirted Saddle of red Cloth.
1882Times 27 June, English wools..of the *deep-stapled class.
1839J. R. Darley Introd. Beaum. & Fl. Wks. (1839) I. 17 Jonson..repaid both with the following *deep-thoughted lines.
1844Mrs. Browning Dead Pan xxii, The hoarse *deep-throated ages Laugh your god⁓ships unto scorn.
1780Cowper Progr. Err. 605 Strike on the *deep-toned chord the sum of all. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. III. xxxvi. 86 With deep-toned decision.
1842Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 45 Fields..browsed by *deep-udder'd kine.
1671Milton P.R. i. 113 Hell's *deep-vaulted den.
1847Longfellow Ev. ii. v. 247 The *deep-voiced..ocean.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Encastillé, *deep-waisted, or frigate-built; as opposed to galley-built.
c. deep-breathing vbl. n., the act of breathing deeply as a form of physical exercise; hence deep-breathe v. intr.; deep-cover attrib., applied to an intelligence agent whose real identity and allegiance are thoroughly protected; deep-dish pie U.S., ‘a pie, usually a fruit pie, baked in a deep dish and having no bottom crust’ (Webster 1934); deep-draft or -draught a. Naut., that displaces deep water; deep drawing, a kind of cold-working in which a sheet or strip of metal is subjected to considerable plastic deformation by being forced through a die, so producing hollow parts such as cylinders; deep-etch, -etching, a photo-engraving process in which the lithographic plate is slightly etched; hence deep-etch v. trans. and intr.; deep field Cricket, that part of the field which is near the boundary, esp. behind the bowler; also, a fieldsman or his position there; hence deep-fielder; deep-(fat-)frying, the frying of food in sufficient oil or fat to cover it completely; so deep-(fat-)fry v. trans. and intr., deep-(fat-)frier, deep-fryer; deep kiss (see quot. 1951); so deep kissing vbl. n.; deep litter, a deep layer of litter (litter n. 3 b) used in poultry-houses, etc.; a method of keeping poultry in such conditions; also attrib.; deep-milking, the production of a good yield of milk; so deep-milker; deep-rooter, something which takes deep root; deep-sinker Austral. slang, (a) a drinking-glass of the largest size, so called from a fanciful resemblance to a deep mineshaft; (b) the drink served in such a glass; Deep South, the southernmost parts of the United States, usually taken to include the states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and sometimes South Carolina; also attrib.; deep space, a term for the regions of space that are either (a) beyond the solar system or (b) well outside the earth's atmosphere; also attrib.; deep structure Linguistics (see quot. 1965); deep tank, a tank for water ballast or fuel oil, formed by cutting off a part of a ship's hold; deep therapy, the treatment of disease by short-wave X-rays (see quots.); deep throat, a person working within an organization who supplies anonymously information concerning misconduct by other members of the organization; orig. applied (with capital initials) to the principal informant in the Watergate scandal [after a pornographic film (1972) so titled]; deep trance, a deep hypnotic state; also attrib.; hence deep-tranced used as pa. pple.
1964Punch 26 Feb. 315/1 In the morning he *deep-breathed.
1904B. A. Macfadden Building of Vital Power 115 Through *deep breathing conducted as an exercise, the lungs become larger. 1936W. Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! vii. 217 He will raise the window and do deep-breathing. 1965F. Sargeson Memoirs of Peon vi. 161 The rules were, nothing to drink except water; deep-breathing exercises and no tobacco.
1963N.Y. Times 7 Apr. 9/1 He was born Abraham Hackelman and was a ‘*deep cover’ agent in the eighteen nineties. 1979Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 26 Jan. 5/2 This corroborated information supplied to the FBI by a deep-cover Soviet double agent in New York.
1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas ii. 29, I polished off the steak and put in a bid for *deep-dish apple pie with a bit of cheese on the side. 1943Gen 2 Jan. 33/2 Their [American] diet..consists of little but..deep-dish apple tart.
1908Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 6/4 None of our inward water-borne traffic enters the Port in *deep-draft vessels.
1925Forging, Stamping, Heat Treating XI. 428/1 Several annealing and pickling operations..are necessary on extremely *deep drawing. 1929Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXX. 460 The force required and the stresses set up at various stages in the deep drawing of sheet metal. 1932Ibid. CXXV. 559 The deep-drawing qualities of steel sheets.
1948H. Missingham Stud. Guide Comm. Art ii. 141 *Deep-etch, used on half-tone blocks where the white parts of the drawing would have a very small screen dot over them unless this instruction were given for their removal. 1960G. A. Glaister Gloss. of Book 99/2 Deep-etch process, a method of making a lithographic plate by photo-mechanical means. It involves the printing on to metal of a photographic positive, and the very slight..etching of the plate. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset 270 Deep-etch, lithographic platemaking process in which the work areas are slightly etched (about 0·003 in.) into the surface of the plate. Positives are used for printing to metal using special solutions, with the etches supplying space for the lacquer base of the ink-receptive printing image.
1897Process Photogram Sept. 143 For a *deep etching the solution would have to be renewed several times.
1955in Amer. Speech (1956) XXXI. 84 They *deep-fat-fry them.
1947M. Given Modern Encycl. Cooking II. 1609 *Deep fat fryer. Buy as a unit.
1926S. E. Nash Cooking Craft vi. 35 French or *Deep Fat Frying.
1870Times 20 July 10/3 Mr. Francis was caught at *deep field. 1900Westm. Gaz. 22 June 3/1 There is scarcely a bowler nowadays who does not station at least one man in the deep-field. Ibid. 3/2 Our first two batsmen..succeeded in getting the ball between his deep fields. 1933A. G. Macdonell England, their England vii. 114 Mr. Southcott..went away into the deep field, about a hundred and twenty yards from the wicket.
1870Times 9 Aug. 3/4 *Deep-fielders have now a better chance of compassing with effect the space allotted them.
1951E. David French Country Cooking 18 A *deep frier with a basket is necessary for chips.
1933Mod. Pract. Cookery 195/2 Be very careful when *deep-frying not to fill the pan too full. 1970New Yorker 24 Oct. 43/2 It's cornmeal and onions, deep fried.
1932E. Craig Cooking with E. Craig 113 Use 1 or 1½ lb...fat, lard or olive oil, for *deep frying.
1951Ford & Beach Patterns Sex. Behav. iii. 49 The ‘*deep kiss’..involves thrusting the tongue of one partner into the mouth of the other.
1948A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior in Human Male x. 369 *Deep kissing is utilized as a prime source of erotic arousal... A deep kiss may involve considerable tongue contacts.
1946Lippincott & Card Poultry Production (ed. 7) xii. 292 The usual procedure with *deep litter is to start in the fall with two to four inches of dry litter, and add to this gradually until the floor is covered eight to ten inches deep. 1947R. Seiden Poultry Handbk. 106 Deep-litter nests keep eggs clean. 1958Times 19 Sept. 3/5 There had been a drop in egg production since they changed from batteries to deep litter. 1969Guardian 25 Aug. 13/5 The sheep were all in deep litter.
1879J. P. Sheldon Dairy Farming 5/2 It is important that she should be a ‘*deep milker’.
1833Ridgemont Farm Rep. in British Husbandry (1840) III. i. 148 The large, heavy, slow-fattening but *deep-milking cows of this country. 1879J. P. Sheldon Dairy Farming 36/2 Deep milking..is a question of breeding and training. 1923Discovery Sept. 244/2 The deep-milking propensity of some cows may be transmitted through the bull to the next generation of female calves. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 31/1 An opportunity to purchase well-framed, deep-milking Ayrshire cattle.
1898Westm. Gaz. 19 Mar. 2/1 Her first cousin..is a *deep-rooter, and must be looked after betimes. 1927Smallholder 26 Mar. 105/2 The main-crop, deep-rooters should be sown at the end of May.
1886F. Cowan Australia: a Charcoal Sketch 32 Long-sleever, Bishop Barker, and *Deep-sinker, synonyms of Yankee Schooner. 1897Argus 15 Jan. 6/5 (Morris), A tumbler—whether medium, small, or deep-sinker.
1936‘R. West’ Thinking Reed i. 23 He had thought himself right out of the illusions common to the *Deep South. 1938C. H. Matschat Suwannee River 285 A trip to the Deep South. 1940C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter (1943) i. i. 3 The town was in the middle of the deep South. 1941W. S. Maugham Writer's Notebook (1949) 327 The vicissitudes of the war have brought her down to the deep South, but till then she had always lived in Portland, Oregon. 1952Spectator 21 Nov. 710/2 A ‘Deep South’ American novel. 1967Times 8 July 11/1 In the two years since the voting rights Act was passed the registration of Negro voters in the deep South has increased by 78 per cent.
1952M. St. Clair in ‘E. Crispin’ Best SF (1955) 184, I am aware of an intense loneliness. It's a normal response to the *deep space situation. 1954Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. XIII. 16 These specialized ‘deep-space’ rocket vehicles would, of course, be refuelled and serviced from satellite ships. 1960F. Gaynor Dict. Aerospace 69 Deep space, a colloquial term for space beyond the outermost boundaries of our solar system. 1962New Scientist 22 Mar. 676/2 Deep-space missiles..being fired far out into space and then falling back to approach the target at a steep angle and a high velocity. 1969Daily Tel. 11 Jan. 1/4 They will also send back to Earth information about deep space during the 155 million-mile journey [to Venus].
1965N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax i. 16 The syntactic component of a grammar must specify, for each sentence, a *deep structure that determines its semantic interpretation and a surface structure that determines its phonetic interpretation. 1966L. J. Cohen Diversity of Meaning (ed. 2) ii. 37 The basic rules generate so-called ‘deep structures’ which receive an interpretation from the semantic rules.
1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Deep tank. 1935Jane's Fighting Ships 113 No. 1 stokehold now converted into four oil-fuel deep-tanks.
1944R. Phillips Super-voltage X-ray Therapy ii. 4 These descriptive terms—‘superficial’ therapy for voltages up to 130 kv., ‘*deep’ therapy for the 200–400 kv. range, and ‘supervoltage’ therapy for 500 kv. upwards—have little to recommend them except brevity. 1967New Scientist 29 June 760/1 Whereas the term ‘deep therapy’ formerly implied X-ray generators of several hundred kilovolts, it now implies accelerators of, effectively, several million volts.
[1973National Rev. (U.S.) 22 June 697/2 So you want to write a best-seller... Well, for starters, how about the hijacking bit?.. Characters? Mafia and Deep Throat types are winners this season.] 1974Time 22 Apr. 55/1 Foremost among their key sources was a man whom the authors still tantalizingly refuse to name. They called him ‘*Deep Throat’, and report only that he was a pre-Watergate friend of Woodward's, with ‘extremely sensitive’ antennae. 1974Bernstein & Woodward in Playboy May 218/2 In newspaper terminology, this meant the discussions were on ‘deep background’. Woodward explained the arrangements to managing editor Howard Simons one day. He had taken to calling the source ‘my friend’, but Simons dubbed him ‘Deep Throat’. The name stuck. 1982Times 3 Nov. 1 A fresh threat of industrial action emerged last night after the publication of documents leaked by a ‘deep throat’ in the National Coal Board.
1892*Deep trance [see hypnosis 2]. 1959Listener 31 Dec. 1165/3 Deep-trance subjects.
1927W. de la Mare Stuff & Nonsense 48 A panther spies them there, *Deep-tranced in speechless rapture.
▸ deep cycle adj. Electr. of, relating to, or designating a type of battery, esp. a Nicad rechargeable cell, that can be fully discharged and recharged a number of times.
1974Electrochem. Soc. Battery Div. Fall Meeting 73 This present work is a study of the temperature-dependence of corrosion of lead-antimony alloy positive grids in cells in *deep cycle service. 2001Harrowsmith Country Life Aug. 50/1, 12 Trojan T105 6-volt deep-cycle batteries (common on rock lifts and golf carts, deep-cycle batteries are meant to dwindle down, unlike car batteries, which charge all the time).
▸ deep cycling n. Electr. the process of fully discharging and then fully recharging a battery, esp. a Nicad rechargeable cell.
1970Power Sources 3: Proc. 7th Internat. Symp. xi. 191 Sealed thin sintered plate, nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries are compared with other systems... Details are given of typical uses by the British and French Armies for regular *deep cycling. 1998Motor Boat & Yachting Jan. 135/3 They combine deep-cycling ability with a high cold-cranking amps (CCA) rating for starting large engines.
▸ deep ecology n. a radical environmental philosophy and movement which regards human life as merely one of many equal components of the global ecosystem, and seeks to counter anthropocentric attitudes and policies.
1972A. Naess in Inquiry 16 95 The *Deep Ecology movement: (1) Rejection of the man-in-environment image in favour of the relational, total-field image. 2001Daily Press (Virginia) (Nexis) 31 May a14 Simply put, they believe in the philosophy of deep ecology, which states that all life is equal and human life has no special value.
▸ deep-fried adj.
1916Kellogg (Iowa) Enterprise (Electronic text) 11 Feb. These are easier to make than the *deep fried croquettes. 2001Adventure Travel July–Aug. 8/3 To sing the virtues of deep fried Mars bars.
▸ deep house n. (also with capital initials) a variety of house music with a comparatively relaxed and mellow sound influenced by soul, gospel, and blues, and characterized by powerful vocals and often a relatively slow beat.
1988New Musical Express 16 July 20/3 The direct decendants [sic] of that sound are the *Deep House records made in Chicago—a crossbreed of gospel influenced vocals and hard synthesiser trax. 2000Philadelphia City Paper 27 Apr.–4 May 87/2 Experience the vibrant sounds of dub, deep house, roots, reggae and dancehall in a candlelit, soothing atmosphere.
▸ deep tissue n. Med. (a) (a) tissue lying beneath the skin and subcutaneous tissue; (b) colloq. = deep-tissue massage n. at Additions
1835Lancet 17 May 174/2 Inflammation is situated in the *deep tissues. 1915G. W. Crile Origin & Nature of Emotions 82 The distribution of pain receptors for physical contact within..the lungs, the retroperitoneal tissue, the deep tissue of the back, [etc.]. 1997Prevention Nov. 118/1, I agreed to sacrifice my body to four of the most commonly used massage therapies..—Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT), Shiatsu, deep tissue, and Swedish. 2001Adventure Trav. July–Aug. 20/4 Superficial frostbite is more severe... Both the skin and upper tissue layers are damaged though deep tissue remains unaffected.
▸ deep-tissue massage n. a type of massage therapy intended to stimulate the body's deep tissue.
1982United Press Internat. Newswire (Nexis) 11 June Training consisted of running 90 miles a week, body work, *deep-tissue massage, chiropractic therapy and a carefully monitored diet. 1992Men's Health Mar.–Apr. 95/1 Aston Patterning combines deep-tissue massage, movement education and something called environmental redesign. 2000Marie Claire July 269/2 Sessions involve vigorous rocking and rolling movements by the therapist, and a heavy dose of deep-tissue massage to drive out toxins.
▸ deep vein thrombosis n. Med. thrombosis of one or more large veins (lying deep in the tissues), esp. in the leg, which may result in pulmonary embolism; an instance of this; abbreviated DVT.
1954Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 42 276 It is considered important to have a venogram..in cases of *deep vein thrombosis. 1967Brain 90 45 She also had a deep vein thrombosis, and developed a generalized rash and fever which were thought to be due to some form of sensitivity. 1978Arch. Surg. 113429 The presence of deep leg vein thromboses detected by labeled fibrinogen was confirmed by dye phlebography. 1989Cancer 64 531 Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the arm unrelated to central venous cannulation is an uncommon occurrence in patients with malignancy. 2001N.Y. Times 2 May b1/4 A well-traveled public, crammed into economy class, is increasingly showing up with deep vein thrombosis, potentially life-threatening blood clots that can form in the legs from inactivity.
▸ deep venous thrombosis n. Med. = deep vein thrombosis n. at Additions.
1944J. Homans in Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetr. 79 70/1 The nature of *deep venous thrombosis beginning below the knee. 1965Ann. Surg. 162438 (title) Early detection of deep venous thrombosis of the legs using I-131 tagged human fibrinogen. 2002European Jrnl. Neurol. 9 89 Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a frequent condition which carries a significant risk for stroke when associated with deep venous thrombosis.
▪ II. deep, n.|diːp|
Forms: 1 déop, dýpe, 4 deope, 4–6 depe, 4–7 deepe, 5–6 Sc. deip(e, (8 dip (sense 8)), 6– deep.
[OE. déop, neuter of déop a., used subst.; also díepe, dýpe, in non-WSax. déope depth, deepness = OS. diupî, diopî, OHG. tiufî (Ger. tiefe), ON. dýpi, Goth. diupei:—OTeut. deupîn-, diupîn-, f. deupo-z deep.]
†1. Depth, deepness. Obs. rare.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 5 Hiᵹ næfdon þære eorþan dypan [c 1160 Hatton G. deopan]. 1624Bacon New Atlantis Wks. (1676) 259 Caves of several deeps. 1635L. Foxe N.-W. Voy. 128 Hee lessed his deepe 3 fathom.
2. The deep part of the sea, or of a lake or river (opposed to shallow); deep water; a deep place.
a1000Cædmon's Exod. 281 (Gr.) Ic sloh garsecges deop. c1000Ags. Ps. lxviii. 14–15 Ado me of deope deorces wæteres..Ne me huru forswelᵹe sæ-grundes deop. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 58/2 And sancke doun in to the depe of the see. c1500Melusine 273 They had take the deep of the porte. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 325 The Frenchmen..passed by and tooke the deepe of the Sea. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xxxiii. §1 Dib in the still deeps. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. 265 Till we were quite out of the deep, and in full sight of the Land. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iv, Some silent, high-encircled mountain-pool, into whose black deeps you fear to gaze. 1855Kingsley Heroes v. ii. (1868) 155 They sailed on through the deeps of Sardinia. 1865J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea (1873) 108 The best places for this kind of fishing are the deeps at Kingston Bridge, Sunbury Lock. Mod. A ship crossing Boston deeps.
3. the deep:
a. The deep sea, the ocean, the main. poetic and rhetorical (without pl.)
c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke v. 4 Teoh hit [scip] on dypan [c 1160 Hatton G. deopan]. c1315Shoreham 146 Fisches ine the depe. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 357, I schal drenchen in þe deepe. a1400–50Alexander 64 Dromonds dryfes ouer þe depe. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 161 They shall fetch thee Iewels from the deepe. 1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 442 The swelling waves of the Deepe. 1662Bk. Com. Prayer, Burial at Sea, We therefore commit his body to the Deep. 1713Steele Englishman No. 26. 171 Monsters of the Deep. 1801Campbell Mariners of Eng. iv, Britannia needs no bulwark, No towers along the steep; Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep. 1870Bryant Iliad I. ii. 65 Barks To cross the dark blue deep.
†b. Formerly also in pl. in same sense. Obs.
1598Chapman Iliad i. 310 They..cast the offal of all to the deeps. 1659D. Pell Improv. Sea Ep. Ded. A iij b, Among the Lords wonders in the Deeps. 1725Pope Odyss. ii. 372 The dangers of the deeps he tries. Ibid. iii. 410 The monstrous wonders of the deeps.
c. The abyss or depth of space. (Sometimes a fig. use of a.)
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 52 Glend. I can call Spirits from the vastie Deepe. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 168 Boundless the Deep, because I am who fill Infinitude, nor vacuous the space. 1794Blake Songs Exper., Tiger 5 In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? 1820Shelley Skylark 9 The blue deep thou wingest. 1830Tennyson Poems 114 And thunder through the sapphire deeps. 1877E. R. Conder Bas. Faith iv. 192 That boundless deep of space.
d. Cricket. Ellipt. for deep field (see deep a. IV. c).
1906Beldam & Fry Gt. Bowlers & Fielders 438 A fine example of the throw in from ‘the deep’. 1924H. de Selincourt Cricket Match (1928) iv. 89 One catch in the deep which he had held in a school cricket match..was still vividly remembered. 1954J. H. Fingleton Ashes crown the Year 112 Lindwall having nobody in the deep. 1963A. Ross Australia 63 iii. 85 Graveney, chasing one in the deep, pulled a muscle and left the field.
4. a. A deep place in the earth, etc.; a deep pit, cavity, valley; an abyss; a depression in a surface.
1393Gower Conf. II. 200 They go by night unto the mine..A wilde fire into the depe Thei caste amonge the tymber-werke. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 719 A thousand in the myre, Off hors with men, was plungyt in the deipe. 1576Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 189 Newendene is such, as it may likely enough take the name..of the deepe and bottome. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 76 And in the lowest deep a lower deep Still threatning to devour me opens wide. 1855Singleton Virgil I. 331 The madding prophetess..Who in a deep of cliff the fates doth chant. 1891Cotes 2 Girls on Barge 161 Noting the deeps and curves of the curious pensive face.
b. Cornish Mining. ‘The lower portion of a vein; used in the phrase to the deep, i.e. downward upon the vein’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881).
5. The remote central part, the ‘depths’. rare.
c1400Mandeville (1839) vii. 79 He wan..all the othere kyngdoms unto the depe of Ethiope. 1879Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 17 In the deep of our land 'tis said, a village from out the woods Emerged.
†6. The middle (of winter, of night) when the cold, stillness, or darkness is most intense; the ‘depth’. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 543/1 In the depe of wynter, all flowers be faded quyte awaye. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. iv. 40 Many that do feare In deepe of night to walke by this Hernes Oake. a1661B. Holyday Juvenal 13 An hour at the deep of winter, being but a twelfth part of their shortest day. 1682Bunyan Holy War 80 The Captains also, in the deep of this Winter, did send..a summons to Mansoul.
7. fig. A deep (i.e. secret, mysterious, unfathomable, or vast) region of thought, feeling, or being; a ‘depth’, ‘abyss’. poet. and rhet.
1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 631 Hee is happily waded out of those deepes of sorrowes, whereof our conceites can finde no bottome. 1632Lithgow Trav. x. 485 Low plunge my hopes, in dark deepes of despaire. 1781Cowper Retirement 135 To dive into the secret deeps within. 1820Shelley Ode Liberty ix, From the human spirit's deepest deep. 1832Tennyson Pal. Art lvi, God, before whom ever lie bare The abysmal deeps of Personality.
8. Naut. A term used in estimating the fathoms intermediate to those indicated by marks on the 20-fathom sounding-line. Formerly also dip.
The marks are at 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20 fathoms; the ‘deeps’ or ‘dips’ are therefore 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) M m iv, As there is no mark at 4, 6, 8, &c., he estimates those numbers, and calls, ‘By the dip four, &c.’ c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 42 How many marks and deeps are there in a 20-fathom lead line? Nine marks and eleven deeps. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hand-line, a line bent to the hand-lead, measured at certain intervals with what are called marks and deeps from 2 and 3 fathoms to 20. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 17 If he judges that the depth corresponds with a deep, [the leadsman calls] ‘by the deep 8 or 9, etc.’
9. Comb., as deep-commanding.
c1590Greene Fr. Bacon xi. 112 Hell trembled at my deep-commanding spells.
▪ III. deep, adv.|diːp|
Forms: 1 díope, déope, 3 diep, 3–6 depe, 4 dep, dipe, 5–7 deepe, 6– deep. compar. deeper, superl. deepest; also 2 deoppre, 4 deppere, 4–5 depper, 5 deppir; 4 deppest, depperst.
[OE. díope, déope = OS. diopo, diapo, OHG. tiufo (MHG. tiefe, Ger. tief).]
1. a. lit. Deeply; to, at, or with, a great, or specified depth; far down, in, etc.
a1000Riddles liv. 6 (Gr.) Deope ᵹedolᵹod, dumb in bendum. c1175Lamb. Hom. 49 Heo delueð deihwamliche heore put deoppre and deoppre. a1300Cursor M. 494 (Cott.) Þan fell þai depe. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 344 Þes ben depperst dampned in helle. c1489Caxton Aymon iv. 116 They..wente in to the forest of Ardeyn, sore deepe in it. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 190 Waters do ebbe as deepe as they flow. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 201 That they may stumble on, and deeper fall. 1727Swift Gulliver iii. i. 178 My sloop was so deep laden that she sailed very slow. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. I. 33 His hands were stuck deep into the waistband of his breeches.
b. transf. in reference to time: Far on.
1822Scott Nigel xviii, The Abbess..died before her munificent patroness, who lived deep in Queen Elizabeth's time. 1871Dixon Tower III. xx. 211 The three men sat up deep into the night. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. III. xxx. 137 The work ran us deep into the afternoon.
c. In to lie deep and the like, the adv. approaches the adj.
a1704Locke (J.), If the matter be knotty, and the sense lies deep, the mind must stop and buckle to it. 1803Wordsw. Ode Intim. Immort. xi, Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. 1812Mrs. Hemans Graves of Househ. iv, The sea, the blue lone sea hath one, He lies where pearls lie deep. Prov. Still waters run deep.
d. Cricket. In the deep field (see deep a. IV. c).
1849W. Lillywhite Young Cricketer's Guide 21 This fieldsman must stand deeper. 1857Hughes Tom Brown II. viii, The batter..cuts it beautifully to where cover-point is standing very deep, in fact almost off the ground. 1891W. G. Grace Cricket x. 265 Mid-on..is placed close in or deep according to the wish of the bowler.
2. fig. Deeply (in various figurative senses); profoundly, intensely, earnestly, heavily, etc.
As qualifying an adj. (cf. quots. 1600, 1602) deep is obs. (exc. with words of colour, as ‘deep-red stain’, where deep is historically an adj.: see deep a. 13 b); qualifying a verb, it is generally superseded in prose use by deeply, although still used in particular cases; cf. quots. 1810–75.
a1000Desc. Hell 108 (Gr.) Nu ic þe hatsie deope. c1000Ags. Ps. cvi. 26 Gedrefede ða deope syndan. a1300Cursor M. 8269 (Cott.) Ferr and depe he vmbi-thoght, Hu þat hus it suld be wroght. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1234 Dido, And swore so depe to hire to be trewe. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 15 b, Anone they ouerthrowe hym as depe in aduersite. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 31 That Fooles should be so deepe contemplatiue. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 127, I am deepe sad. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 90 That for honour's sake Yelverton be fyned deepe. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 216 A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) I. 436 The King was so afraid to engage himself too deep. 1762Goldsm. Nash 53 To tie him up..from playing deep. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. iii, A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Old Margate Hoy, The reason..scarcely goes deep enough into the question. 1833Thirlwall in Philol. Mus. II. 538 Moral inquiries..were those in which he engaged the deepest. 1866Kingsley Hereward iii. 77 They drank deep of the French wine. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 417 The thoughts of Socrates..have certainly sunk deep into the mind of the world.
3. Comb.
a. Frequent in combination with pres. and pa. pples. (in which deeply, not hyphened, may usually be substituted); as deep-going, deep-lying, deep-questioning, deep-reaching, deep-sinking, deep-thinking, deep-trenching; deep-cut, deep-felt, deep-grown, deep-sunk; deep-drawn, -laid, -set, etc. In poetical language, especially, these combinations are formed at will, and their number is unlimited, e.g. deep-affected, deep-affrighted, deep-biting, deep-brooding, deep-buried, deep-crimsoned, deep-damasked, deep-discerning, deep-drawing, deep-drunk, deep-dyed, deep-engraven, deep-laden, deep-persuading, deep-searching, deep-sunken, deep-sworn, deep-throbbing, deep-worn, deep-wounded; deep-rooted, deep-seated, etc. It is sometimes difficult to separate these from parasynthetic combinations of the adj. such as deep-vaulted: see deep a. IV. b.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. Imposture 305 Sweet, courting, *deep-affected words.
Ibid. ii. i. Furies 581 *Deep-affrighted Sadnesse.
1647H. More Song of Soul App. iii. ix, By Nemesis *deep-biting whips well urged.
1776Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad 339 *Deep-brooding silence reign'd.
1855Singleton Virgil I. 142 Wealth..broodeth over his *deep-buried gold.
a1826Longfellow Autumn 19 The..woods of ash *deep-crimsoned.
1860Tyndall Glac. i. viii. 59 Streams..rushing through *deep-cut channels.
1820Keats St. Agnes xxiv, The tiger-moth's *deep-damask'd wings.
1844Marg. Fuller Wom. in 19th C. (1862) 51 Deep-eyed *deep-discerning Greece.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. Prol. 12 The *deep-drawing barks do there disgorge.
1593― Lucr. 1100 She, *deep-drenched in a sea of care.
1703Rowe Ulyss. ii. i. 954 Mounting Spirits of the *deep-drunk Bowl.
1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. xxviii, Gently flows The *deep-dyed Brenta.
1614T. Adams Devil's Banquet 47 *Deepe-ingrauen and indelible characters.
1808J. Barlow Columb. i. 52 *Deep felt sorrows.
1859I. Taylor Logic in Theol. 178 A *deep-going error.
1883Daily News 17 Sept. 2/3 *Deep-grown English wools are still out of fashion.
1845Longfellow Belfry Bruges xii, With *deep-laden argosies.
1864Marsh Man & Nature 439 The *deep-lying veins. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxviii. 215 The deep-lying though not obtrusive difference.
1594Barnfield Compl. Chastitie vii, Gold is a *deepe-perswading Orator.
1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 213 Moods of egotistic introspection and *deep-questioning contemplation.
1599Marston Sco. Villanie ii. v. 196 For Flavus was a knaue, A damn'd *deep-reaching villain. 1873M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma 362 The truth is really..more wide and deep-reaching than the Aberglaube.
1776Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad 125 *Deep-settled grief.
1858Lytton What will he do i. vi, Under the *deep-sunk window.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. ii, Within thine owne *deep-sunken eyes. 1845Longfellow To a Child ii, Far-down in the deep-sunken wells Of darksome mines.
1862E. Arnold in Fraser's Mag. July 113 Unto us, thy *deep-sworn votaries.
1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 613 To deal with the sagacious and *deep-thinking, one must go to the bottom of things.
1845G. Murray Islaford 126 When this *deep-throbbing heart shall be wed.
1862Ansted Channel Isl. iv. xx. (ed. 2) 475 The *deep-trenching plough..turning up a thickness of a foot of subsoil.
1827Keble Chr. Y., Holy Innocents, The *deep-worn trace of penitential tears.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 24 A virgin widow; whose *deepe-wounded mind With love long time did languish.
b. deep was also formerly used with adjectives (see 2), and these were (or are by editors) sometimes hyphened (to make the grammatical construction clear), as deep-naked, deep-sore, deep-sweet: cf. deep contemplative in 2. So still sometimes with adjs. of colour, as ‘deep-blue sea’, ‘deep-green grass’: see deep a. 13 b.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 432 Ear's deep-sweet music, and heart's deep-sore wounding. a1618Sylvester Tobacco Battered 377 Chaprones..with broad deep-naked Brests.
c. with another adv., as deep-down adv. and adj.
1832Tennyson Lotos-eaters 35 His voice was thin..And deep-asleep he seem'd. 1861L. L. Noble Icebergs 108 If he [iceberg] move, he dashes a foot against the deep down stones. 1876Tennyson Harold ii. ii. (1877) 55 And deeper still the deep-down oubliette, Down thirty feet below the smiling day. 1890Daily News 3 Feb. 5/3 These deep-down curtseys are reported to be now coming into common use abroad. 1915E. B. Holt Freudian Wish i. 5 The person does, in his dream, what he deep-down wishes to do. 1962E. Bowen Afterthought 81 A slowly acquired deep-down knowledge.
d. with verbs (rare), as deep-fish [f. deep fishing, fisheries], to fish in the deep sea (q.v.).
1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. xvi. (1855) 148 A fleet of boats had gone out to deep-fish.
▸ Sport. In or to a point relatively distant from the originating point of play, in reference to the (expected) direction of play and to the (expected) usual point; spec.: a. Cricket and Baseball. In a place farther from the batsman or batter than is usual or expected (esp. used of a player in a particular position); spec. (Baseball) of an infielder: in a position in the outfield just beyond the infield; (of an outfielder) in a position relatively close to the fence; (of the ball) to a point relatively close to the fence.
1849W. Lillywhite Young Cricketer's Guide 21 This fieldsman must stand deeper. 1857T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 388 The batter..cuts it beautifully to where cover-point is standing very deep, in fact almost off the ground. 1891W. G. Grace Cricket x. 265 Mid-on..is placed close in or deep according to the wish of the bowler. 1900G. Patten Rockspur Nine xx. 178 John Smith had been playing ‘deep’. Almost instantly he saw that the ball was soaring on its way to pass over the fence, yet he whirled and ran toward that fence as hard as he could. 1989P. Dickson Baseball Dict. 125/2 Both infielders and outfielders may play deep, while the batter may hope to hit the ball deep or ‘go deep’. 1989Newsday 14 Aug. 93/3 Teufer, who was playing deep at second base, charged the bouncing ball and had to decide in a instant whether to glove it. 2002Penrith (Australia) Press (Nexis) 11 Oct. Another time I was fielding deep when the wicketkeeper ran to get the ball but he did not let me know he was there and we collided.
b. Esp. Association Football and Amer. Football. Of a player in a defensive position: in or towards a position closer to one's own goal line, goalkeeper, etc., than is usual or expected; (of a player in an attacking or offensive position, or of a ball) in or towards a position closer to one's opponent's goal line, goal, etc., than is usual or expected.
1913Times 10 Nov. 14 Another fault is that the three-quarter backs give passes that are too long and too slow... None of them are of sufficient weight to break through on their own account, and they presumably try to compensate for this by standing deep and so getting a longer run. 1966S. R. Graves Guide to Mod. Football Defense 180 They sprint to a wide flat position ten yards deep. 1976G. Carr Tackle Hockey xiv. 89 By lying fairly deep in mid-field he can concentrate on blotting out one individual while the two remaining links divide the mid-field between themselves. 1986Chicago Tribune (Final ed.) 5 Oct. 8 Last year, despite the loss of speedy wide receiver Mark Duper for half the season and opposing secondaries playing deep enough to return punts, Marino still threw for 30 TDs. 2001Times 28 Aug. (Sports Daily) s1/5 Ricardo Gardner worked a short corner kick with Bo Hansen and curled a cross deep to Paul Warhurst.
▪ IV. deep, v. rare.|diːp|
[OE. díepan, dýpan trans., OFris. diupa (Du. diepen), MHG. tiefen, Goth. ga-diupjan. The intr. would correspond to an OE. *déopian, Goth. *diupôn to be deep, but is app. an analogical form of later age.]
†1. trans. To make deep, deepen. Obs.
c930Laws of æthelstan iv. §6 We cwædon be ðam blaserum, ðæt man dypte ðone aþ be þryfealdum. c1205Lay. 15473 Þa þe dic wes idoluen & allunge ideoped. 1616MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For the deping of it, iiijd.
2. intr. To become deep, deepen. rare.
1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 436 Vse your leade oftener..noting diligently the order of your depth, and the deeping and sholding. 1849Kingsley Misc., N. Devon II. 254 Nature's own glazings, deeping every instant there behind us.
†3. To go deep, penetrate. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 288 Þer waxeð wunde & deopeð into þe soule.
†4. trans. To plunge or immerse deeply (lit. and fig.); to drown. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 13 It is noo nede to depe us in þis story more þan þe gospel tellith. a1541Wyatt Poet. Wks. (1861) 173 And deep thyself in travail more and more. 1578Chr. Prayers in Priv. Prayers (1851) 444 A droopy night ever deepeth the minds of them. |