fathom
verb/ˈfæðəm/
/ˈfæðəm/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they fathom | /ˈfæðəm/ /ˈfæðəm/ |
| he / she / it fathoms | /ˈfæðəmz/ /ˈfæðəmz/ |
| past simple fathomed | /ˈfæðəmd/ /ˈfæðəmd/ |
| past participle fathomed | /ˈfæðəmd/ /ˈfæðəmd/ |
| -ing form fathoming | /ˈfæðəmɪŋ/ /ˈfæðəmɪŋ/ |
- (usually in negative sentences) to understand or find an explanation for something
- fathom somebody/something (out) She knew he was angry with her, for some reason she couldn't fathom.
- It is hard to fathom the pain felt at the death of a child.
- fathom (out) what, where, etc… He couldn't fathom out what the man could possibly mean.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryFathom is used with these nouns as the object:- mystery
Word OriginOld English fæthm, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vadem, vaam and German Faden ‘six feet’. The original sense was ‘something which embraces’, (plural) ‘the outstretched arms’; hence, a unit of measurement based on the span of the outstretched arms, later standardized to six feet.
Check pronunciation:
fathom