deep

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points: 7
Words With Friends: 8
Letters: 4

Pronunciation

/diːp/

Definition of deep

35 senses · 5 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“The lake is extremely deep.”
“We hiked into a deep valley between tall mountains.”
“There was a deep layer of dust on the floor; the room had not been disturbed for many years.”
“In the mid-1970s, the economy went into a deep recession.”
“We are in deep trouble.”

See all 35 definitions

adj

(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“The lake is extremely deep.”
“We hiked into a deep valley between tall mountains.”
“There was a deep layer of dust on the floor; the room had not been disturbed for many years.”
“In the mid-1970s, the economy went into a deep recession.”
“We are in deep trouble.”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“Diving down to deep wrecks can be dangerous.”
“I can't get the bullet out – it's too deep.”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“The shelves are 30 centimetres deep. — They are deep shelves.”
“That cyclist's deep chest allows him to draw more air.”
(also, figuratively, in-compounds)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“The water was waist-deep.”
“There is an arm-deep hole in the wall.”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“a crowd four deep along the funeral procession, with people two deep on the sidewalks”
“The fleet of ships was fifty sail deep.”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“to take a deep breath / sigh / drink”
“Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“He is fielding at deep mid wicket.”
“She hit a ball into deep center field.”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“a deep volley”
“a deep run into the opposition half”
(also, figuratively)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“Our defensive live is too deep. We need to move further up the field.”
“She returns serve from a very deep position.”
(also, figuratively, often)Extending, reaching or positioned far from a point of reference, especially downwards.

“the brachialis is deep to the biceps”
“The superficial fascia surrounds the body and includes subcutaneous fat; the deep fascia surrounds the musculoskeletal system; the meningeal fascia surrounds the nervous system; the visceral fascia surrounds body cavities and organs.”
Complex, involved.

“That is a deep thought!”
Complex, involved.

“Your analysis does not cut deep enough yet.”
“They're in deep discussion.”
“And it's me you need to show / How deep is your love?”
Complex, involved.

“a deep subject or plot”
“Why it was that the ancients had no landscape painting, is a question deep almost as the mystery of life, and harder of solution than all the problems of jurisprudence combined.”
Complex, involved.

“Deepe clearks ſhe dumb's”
“I never said I was deep, but I am profoundly shallow / My lack of knowledge is vast, and my horizons are narrow”
Complex, involved.

“Or doth she only seem to take ⁠The touch of change in calm or storm; ⁠But knows no more of transient form In her deep self, than some dead lake That holds the shadow of a lark ⁠Hung in the shadow of a heaven?”
Low in pitch.

“She has a very deep contralto voice.”
“The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.”
Highly saturated; rich.

“That's a very deep shade of blue.”
“The spices impart a deep flavour to the dish.”
“The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…].”
Sound, heavy (describing a state of sleep from which one is not easily awoken).

“He was in a deep sleep.”
Muddy; boggy; sandy; said of roads.

“The ways in that vale were very deep.”
Distant in the past, ancient.

“deep time”
“in the deep past”

adv

Far, especially far down through something or into something, physically or figuratively.

“The ogre lived in a cave deep underground.”
“We ventured deep into the forest.”
“His problems lie deep in the subconscious.”
“I am deep in debt.”
“Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.”
In a profound, not superficial, manner.

“I thought long and deep.”
“deep-laid”
“Deep verſt in books and ſhallow in himſelf,”
In large volume.

“breathe deep, drink deep”
“A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing; / Drink deep, or taſte not the Pierian Spring:”
Back towards one's own goal, baseline, or similar.

“He's normally a midfield player, but today he's playing deep.”

noun

(countable, literary, uncountable, with-definite-article)The deep part of a lake, sea, etc.

“creatures of the deep”
(countable, uncountable, with-definite-article)The sea, the ocean.

“How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep—while I weep! / O God! can I not grasp / Them with a tighter clasp?”
(countable, uncountable)A deep hole or pit, a water well; an abyss.

“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.”
(countable, uncountable)A deep or innermost part of something in general.

“And what delights can equal those ⁠That stir the spirit’s inner deeps, ⁠When one that loves but knows not, reaps A truth from one that loves and knows?”
(countable, literary, uncountable, with-definite-article)A silent time; quiet isolation.

“the deep of night”
(countable, rare, uncountable)A deep shade of colour.

“For our blues we have the azures and ceruleans, lapis lazulis, the light and dusty, the powder blues, the deeps: royal, sapphire, navy, and marine […]”
(US, countable, rare, uncountable)The profound part of a problem.
(countable, uncountable)A fielding position near the boundary.

“Russell is a safe pair of hands in the deep.”

verb

(Multicultural-London-English, slang, transitive)To overthink; to treat as being deeper (“more profound, significant”) than in reality.

“― Ugh, why are these road markings so awfully arranged? ― Quit deeping it bro, just drive, innit.”
(Multicultural-London-English, slang, transitive)To think about, especially deeply (“profoundly”); to consider.

“No Picasso, I don't care about resistance (Deep dat).”
“I think I better leave it. I don't wanna beat it, this is not a Michael phase. Every time I deep it, man dem wan' eat it. Trying to recycle, babe.”
“I grew up so fucked but I didn't even deep it. I'm numb to the feelin' of grievin'.”

name

A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

See full etymology

From Middle English dep, deep, depe, from Old English dēop (“deep, profound; awful, mysterious; heinous; serious, solemn, earnest; extreme, great”), from Proto-West Germanic *deup, from Proto-Germanic *deupaz (“deep”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-nós, from *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”). Cognates Cognate with Scots depe (“deep”), North Frisian diip, jip (“deep”), Saterland Frisian djoop (“deep”), West Frisian djip (“deep”), Alemannic German tüüf (“deep”), Central Franconian deef, deep (“deep”), Dutch diep (“deep”), German tief (“deep”), Luxembourgish déif (“deep”), Mòcheno tiaf (“deep”), Vilamovian tif, tīf, tiif (“deep”), Yiddish טיף (tif, “deep”), Danish dyb (“deep”), Faroese, Icelandic djúpur (“deep”), Norwegian Bokmål djup, dyp (“deep”), Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish djup (“deep”), Scanian djyber (“deep”), Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐍃 (diups, “deep”), Lithuanian dubùs (“deep, hollow”), Albanian det (“sea”), Welsh dwfn (“deep”).