Tra từ fathom - Từ điển LongMan Dictionary

I. noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A few minutes later: port, six fathoms and starboard, ten fathoms.
▪ At the moment I'd guess we're in two to three hundred fathoms.
▪ Below him, full fathom five; above, infinity.
▪ From the port side depths of seven fathoms were sounded, but only twelve from the starboard side.
▪ In Taylor's Level the ground was equally as hard and the rate had been increased there to £9 a fathom.
▪ She gripped his clothing to hold her up, and plunged fathoms deep, mindless, soaring.
▪ Where the vein was of considerable thickness it was quite usual to pay the men at so much per cubic fathom.
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
ADVERB
how
▪ Often it is difficult to fathom how these slings are knotted and connected.
▪ Nor could he fathom how any daughter of his could be, either.
out
▪ What the locals could not fathom out, however, was the reason behind Pascoe's new-found prosperity.
▪ Fortunately in trying to fathom out what happened next we have the advantage of the known laws of science.
▪ He was having enough difficulty understanding his own feelings, without trying to fathom out Carrie's.
▪ Adam still hadn't fathomed out how he did it all so effortlessly.
▪ Do not waste valuable height trying to fathom out how to get down in an unsuitable field.
why
▪ Mark was at a loss to fathom why he resented him so much.
▪ He couldn't fathom why she was so anxious that no one else should know of his interest in her.
▪ Robert had not yet been able to fathom why this was the case.
▪ He couldn't fathom why she'd taken such exception to Eleanor.
VERB
try
▪ None the less, I try to fathom: I read the histories.
▪ He closed his eyes on the idea of people standing around a grave and this poor woman trying to fathom it all.
▪ Dalzell looked as if he were trying to fathom her character.
▪ For years, I tried to fathom the mentality that simply waves off concern about the cost of regulations as irrelevant.
▪ She watched him for several moments, then looked about the large dining-room, trying to fathom the reason for his actions.
▪ Sam Fong had stopped dusting the cans and had given up trying to fathom the writing on the crate.
▪ He was having enough difficulty understanding his own feelings, without trying to fathom out Carrie's.
▪ Do not waste valuable height trying to fathom out how to get down in an unsuitable field.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The jury had difficulty fathoming the technical details.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ For years, I tried to fathom the mentality that simply waves off concern about the cost of regulations as irrelevant.
▪ He closed his eyes on the idea of people standing around a grave and this poor woman trying to fathom it all.
▪ I can't quite fathom it.
▪ The 1960s were the years of jaunty self-confidence among economists, and the reasons for this were not difficult to fathom.
▪ The morning after the funeral, Jean started trying to fathom the mysteries posed by the contents of Brian's wallet.
▪ The reason for a larger military role in domestic law enforcement is not hard to fathom.
▪ They have assisted many hon. Members, including myself, in fathoming the difficult procedure.

fathom

I. fath‧om¹ /ˈfæðəm/ noun [COUNTABLE]
[Language : Old English; Origin : fæthm]
a unit for measuring the depth of water, equal to six feet or about 1.8 metres

II. fathom² (also fathom out) verb [TRANSITIVE]
to understand what something means after thinking about it carefully SYN work out:
　 ▪ I still can’t fathom out what she meant.
fathom how/why/where etc
　 ▪ Mark couldn’t fathom why she resented him so much.
• • •
THESAURUS
to understand something difficult
▪grasp to completely understand an idea or a fact, especially a complicated one :
　 ▪ Some of his theories can be rather difficult for the ordinary reader to grasp.
　 ▪ I don’t think Stuart really grasped the point I was making.
▪fathom /ˈfæðəm/ formal to understand what something means or the reasons for something, after thinking carefully about it :
　 ▪ She looked at him, puzzled, trying to fathom the reasons for his actions.
▪make sense of something to understand something that is not easy to understand, especially by thinking about it :
　 ▪ People are still trying to make sense of the news.
▪can’t make head nor tail of something spoken used when something seems impossible to understand :
　 ▪ I can’t make head nor tail of his plays, and I’m not sure that anyone else can either.