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1 N‑VAR [with poss] The depth of something such as a river or hole is the distance downwards from its top surface, or between its upper and lower surfaces. □  The smaller lake ranges from five to fourteen feet in depth. □  The depth of the shaft is 520 yards. □  They were detected at depths of more than a kilometre in the sea.

2 N‑VAR [with poss] The depth of something such as a cupboard or drawer is the distance between its front surface and its back.

3 N‑VAR If an emotion is very strongly or intensely felt, you can talk about its depth . □ [+ of ] I am well aware of the depth of feeling that exists in Londonderry.

4 N‑UNCOUNT The depth of a situation is its extent and seriousness. □ [+ of ] The country's leadership had underestimated the depth of the crisis.

5 N‑UNCOUNT The depth of someone's knowledge is the great amount that they know. □ [+ of ] We felt at home with her and were impressed with the depth of her knowledge.

6 N‑UNCOUNT If you say that someone or something has depth , you mean that they have serious and interesting qualities which are not immediately obvious and which you have to think about carefully before you can fully understand them. □  His music lacks depth.

7 N‑PLURAL The depths are places that are a long way below the surface of the sea or earth. [LITERARY ] □  The ship vanished into the depths.

8 N‑PLURAL If you talk about the depths of an area, you mean the parts of it which are very far from the edge. □ [+ of ] …the depths of the countryside.

9 N‑PLURAL If you are in the depths of an unpleasant emotion, you feel that emotion very strongly. □ [+ of ] I was in the depths of despair when the baby was sick.

10 N‑PLURAL If something happens in the depths of a difficult or unpleasant period of time, it happens in the middle and most severe or intense part of it. □ [+ of ] The country is in the depths of a recession.

11 PHRASE If you deal with a subject in depth , you deal with it very thoroughly and consider all the aspects of it. □  We will discuss these three areas in depth.

12 PHRASE If you say that someone is out of their depth , you mean that they are in a situation that is much too difficult for them to be able to cope with it. □  Mr Gibson is clearly intellectually out of his depth.

13 PHRASE If you are out of your depth , you are in water that is deeper than you are tall, with the result that you cannot stand up with your head above water.

14to plumb new depths → see plumb

15to plumb the depths → see plumb

de pth charge (depth charges ) N‑COUNT A depth charge is a type of bomb which explodes under water and which is used especially to destroy enemy submarines.

depu|ta|tion /de pjʊte I ʃ ^ə n/ (deputations ) N‑COUNT A deputation is a small group of people who have been asked to speak to someone on behalf of a larger group of people, especially in order to make a complaint. □ [+ of ] A deputation of elders from the village arrived headed by its chief.

de|pute /d I pjuː t/ (deputes , deputing , deputed ) VERB [usu passive] If you are deputed to do something, someone tells or allows you to do it on their behalf. [FORMAL ] □ [be V -ed to-inf] A sub-committee was deputed to investigate the claims.

depu|tize /de pjʊta I z/ (deputizes , deputizing , deputized ) in BRIT, also use deputise VERB If you deputize for someone, you do something on their behalf, for example attend a meeting. □ [V + for ] I sometimes had to deputise for him in the kitchen. □ [V ] Mr Schulmann cannot be here to welcome you and has asked me to deputize.

depu|ty ◆◆◇ /de pjʊti/ (deputies )