fathom

comprendre, percer

Comprendre quelque chose de difficile ou de déroutant, notamment les raisons ou le comportement d’une personne.

En anglais simple : To understand something difficult or confusing, especially someone's reasons or behaviour.

• I cannot fathom his reasons.
• She finally fathomed out the strange message.
• Can anyone fathom why the machine keeps stopping?

Comment l'utiliser : fathom why/how/what… (I cannot fathom why he left so suddenly.); fathom something out (Can you fathom this puzzle out?)

Synonymes : understand, figure out, comprehend

Expressions courantes : fathom something out, fathom someone's motives, cannot fathom why

sonder

Mesurer la profondeur de l’eau.

En anglais simple : To measure how deep water is.

• The sailors fathomed the bay.
• They used a weighted rope to fathom the water.
• We must fathom the channel before the ship enters.

Synonymes : sound

Expressions courantes : fathom the depth, fathom the bay, fathom the channel

brasse

Unité de longueur de six pieds, soit environ 1,83 mètre, servant surtout à mesurer la profondeur de l’eau.

En anglais simple : A unit of length equal to six feet, used especially to measure water depth.

• The water is one fathom deep.
• We anchored in six fathoms of water.
• The chart gives all depths in fathoms.

Expressions courantes : a fathom deep, one fathom, fathom of rope

brasse

Mesure de distance entre le rivage et le point le plus proche où l’eau atteint une profondeur donnée en brasses.

En anglais simple : A measure of distance from shore based on the water depth at the nearest point of that depth.

• The boat lay a fathom offshore.
• They waited two fathoms from shore, where the water reached that depth.
• We rowed three fathoms out, stopping at the nearest three-fathom depth.

Expressions courantes : a fathom offshore, a fathom out