Dictionary Definition
deepen
Verb
1 make more intense, stronger, or more marked;
"The efforts were intensified", "Her rudeness intensified his
dislike for her"; "Potsmokers claim it heightens their awareness";
"This event only deepened my convictions" [syn: intensify, compound, heighten]
2 become more intense; "The debate intensified";
"His dislike for raw fish only deepened in Japan" [syn: intensify]
3 make deeper; "They deepened the lake so that
bigger pleasure boats could use it"
4 become deeper in tone; "His voice began to
change when he was 12 years old"; "Her voice deepened when she
whispered the password" [syn: change]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -iːpən
Verb
- To make deep or deeper; to increase the depth of; to sink lower; as, to deepen a well or a channel.
- To make darker or more intense; to darken; as, the event deepened the prevailing gloom.
- To make more poignant or affecting; to increase in degree; as, to deepen grief or sorrow.
- To make more grave or low in tone; as, to deepen the tones of an organ.
- To become deeper; as, the water deepens at every cast of the lead; the plot deepens.
Translations
to make deep or deeper
- German: aushölen
to make darker or more intense
- German: zunehmen
to make more poignant
- German: vergrößern
to make more grave
- German: vergrößern
to become deeper
- German: vertiefen
- ttbc French: approfondir
- ttbc Hebrew: להעמיק (leha'amyq) (1-4)
- ttbc Italian: approfondire
- ttbc Spanish: ahondar, profundizar
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
accelerate, agent
provocateur, aggravate, amplify, annoy, augment, beef up, blow up,
broaden, build up,
burrow, complicate, concentrate, condense, consolidate, countersink, depress, deteriorate, dig, dig out, dive, double, dredge, drill, embitter, enhance, enlarge, exacerbate, exaggerate, exasperate, excavate, expand, extend, heat up, heighten, hop up, hot up,
increase, intensify, irritate, jazz up, key up,
lower, magnify, make acute, make
complex, make worse, mine,
mount, outspread, outstretch, provoke, ramify, redouble, reinforce, rise, rouse, scoop out, sharpen, sink, soup up, sour, spread, spread out, step up,
strengthen, triple, tunnel, whet, widen, worsen