fathom

verb

Definition of fathomnext
as in to plumb
to measure the depth of (as a body of water) typically with a weighted line the pilot had to continually fathom the river, which drought conditions had lowered to unprecedented levels

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fathom The amount of love and support from our Colorado Springs community and beyond is overwhelming to fathom. — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 22 June 2026 Mike Heller couldn’t fathom Hollywood Hardware’s sign going to waste. — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 20 June 2026 The idea struck me as hard to fathom. — Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 18 June 2026 Its scale — a thousand times more than a billion — is difficult to fathom for those of us who aren’t among the 3,363 billionaires that currently exist in our world. — Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 12 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for fathom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fathom
  1. plumb
  2. scale
  3. span
Verb
  • Readers can return to a text and plumb it for new meaning and understanding.
    — Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • But even as Moon landings, space shuttles, and reusable rockets seized the headlines, Link, along with a stubborn handful of engineers, explorers, and flat-out dreamers, kept plumbing the ocean instead.
    — Bill Gourgey, Popular Science, 2 July 2026
Definition of plumb
Verb
  • Every prompt, response, and autonomous agent interaction consumes tokens, and as AI systems become more sophisticated, usage can scale from thousands to millions—or even trillions—of tokens.
    — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 29 July 2026
  • Over the course of nearly 40 years, SeriousFun has scaled up to become a 21st-century charity, and now serve children with rare diseases.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2026
Definition of scale
Verb
  • The ranch spans about 245 acres and sits at the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 84, with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean.
    — Sooji Nam, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Next week, fashion will take over Copenhagen once again, with shows spanning from the Opera Park to the Statens Museum for Kunst, spilling out into cobbled streets and waterside runways in between.
    — Bella Webb, Vogue, 31 July 2026
Definition of span

Browse Nearby Words

fathers (on)
fathom
fathomable
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Cite this Entry

“Fathom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fathom. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fathom

Nglish: Translation of fathom for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fathom

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