Deep, adv. To a great depth; with
depth; far down; profoundly; deeply.
Deep-versed in books, and shallow in
himself.
Milton.
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian
spring.
Pope.
☞ Deep, in its usual adverbial senses, is often
prefixed to an adjective; as, deep-chested, deep-cut,
deep-seated, deep-toned, deep-voiced,
"deep-uddered kine."
Deep, n. 1. That
which is deep, especially deep water, as the sea or ocean; an abyss;
a great depth.
Courage from the deeps of knowledge
springs.
Cowley.
The hollow deep of hell resounded.
Milton.
Blue Neptune storms, the bellowing deeps
resound.
Pope.
2. That which is profound, not easily
fathomed, or incomprehensible; a moral or spiritual depth or
abyss.
Thy judgments are a great deep.
Ps. xxxvi. 6.
Deep of night, the most quiet or profound
part of night; dead of night.
The deep of night is crept upon our
talk.
Shak.Deep (dēp), a.
[Compar. Deeper (?);
superl. Deepest (?).] [OE. dep,
deop, AS. deóp; akin to D. diep, G.
tief, Icel. djūpr, Sw. diup, Dan.
dyb, Goth. diups; fr. the root of E. dip,
dive. See Dip, Dive.] 1.
Extending far below the surface; of great perpendicular
dimension (measured from the surface downward, and distinguished from
high, which is measured upward); far to the bottom; having a
certain depth; as, a deep sea.
The water where the brook is deep.
Shak.
2. Extending far back from the front or outer
part; of great horizontal dimension (measured backward from the front
or nearer part, mouth, etc.); as, a deep cave or recess or
wound; a gallery ten seats deep; a company of soldiers six
files deep.
Shadowing squadrons deep.
Milton.
Safely in harbor
Is the king's ship in the deep nook.
Shak.
3. Low in situation; lying far below the
general surface; as, a deep valley.
4. Hard to penetrate or comprehend; profound;
-- opposed to shallow or superficial; intricate;
mysterious; not obvious; obscure; as, a deep subject or
plot.
Speculations high or deep.
Milton.
A question deep almost as the mystery of
life.
De Quincey.
O Lord, . . . thy thoughts are very
deep.
Ps. xcii. 5.
5. Of penetrating or far-reaching intellect;
not superficial; thoroughly skilled; sagacious; cunning.
Deep clerks she dumbs.
Shak.
6. Profound; thorough; complete; unmixed;
intense; heavy; heartfelt; as, deep distress; deep
melancholy; deep horror. "Deep despair."
Milton. "Deep silence." Milton. "Deep
sleep." Gen. ii. 21. "Deeper darkness." >Hoole.
"Their deep poverty." 2 Cor. viii. 2.
An attitude of deep respect.
Motley.
7. Strongly colored; dark; intense; not light
or thin; as, deep blue or crimson.
8. Of low tone; full-toned; not high or
sharp; grave; heavy. "The deep thunder."
Byron.
The bass of heaven's deep organ.
Milton.
9. Muddy; boggy; sandy; -- said of
roads. Chaucer.
The ways in that vale were very
deep.
Clarendon.
A deep line of operations (Military),
a long line. -- Deep mourning
(Costume), mourning complete and strongly marked, the
garments being not only all black, but also composed of lusterless
materials and of such fashion as is identified with mourning
garments.