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Deep vs Below - What's the difference?

deep | below |

As adverbs the difference between deep and below

is that deep is deeply while below is in a lower place.

As an adjective deep

is extending far away from a point of reference, especially downwards .

As a noun deep

is the deep part of a lake, sea, etc.

As a preposition below is

lower in spatial position than.

deep

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Extending far away from a point of reference, especially downwards.
  • #Extending far down from the top or surface; having its bottom far down.
  • #:
  • #:
  • #*1591 , (William Shakespeare), Henry VI, Part 2 :
  • #*:Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.
  • #Far in extent in another (non-downwards, but generally also non-upwards) direction away from a point of reference.
  • #:
  • #In a (specified) number of rows or layers.
  • #:
  • #Thick.
  • #:
  • #*, chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}
  • #Voluminous.
  • #:
  • #*
  • #*:Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
  • #A long way inside; situated far in or back.
  • #:
  • ## Far from the center of the playing area, near to the boundary of the playing area, either in absolute terms or relative to a point of reference.
  • ##:
  • ##:
  • ## A long way forward.
  • ##:
  • ##(label) Relatively farther downfield.
  • Complex, involved.
  • #Profound, having great meaning or import, but possibly obscure or not obvious.
  • #:
  • #To a significant, not superficial, extent.
  • #:
  • #:
  • #*2013 September 28, (Kenan Malik), " London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
  • #*:While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
  • #Hard to penetrate or comprehend; profound; intricate; obscure.
  • #:
  • #* (Thomas De Quincey):
  • #*:Why it was that the ancients had no landscape painting, is a question deep almost as the mystery of life, and harder of solution than all the problems of jurisprudence combined.
  • #Of penetrating or far-reaching intellect; not superficial; thoroughly skilled; sagacious; cunning.
  • #*(rfdate), (William Shakespeare):
  • #*:deep clerks
  • Low in pitch.
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
  • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The departure was not unduly prolonged.
  • (lb) Dark and highly saturated.
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:
  • (lb) Sound, heavy (describing a state of sleep from which one is not easily awoken ).
  • :
  • Immersed, submerged (in).
  • :
  • Muddy; boggy; sandy; said of roads.
  • *(rfdate), :
  • *:The ways in that vale were very deep .
  • Synonyms

    * * (having great meaning) heavy, meaningful, profound * (in extent in a direction away from the observer) * (thick in a vertical direction) thick * (voluminous) great, large, voluminous * (low in pitch) low, low-pitched * bright, rich, vivid

    Antonyms

    * shallow * (having great meaning) frivolous, light, shallow, superficial * (in extent in a direction away from the observer) shallow * (thick in a vertical direction) shallow, thin * (voluminous) shallow, small * (low in pitch) high, high-pitched, piping * light, pale, desaturated, washed-out

    See also

    * tall * wide * high * thick

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Deeply.
  • * Milton:
  • Deep -versed in books, and shallow in himself.
  • * Alexander Pope:
  • Drink deep , or taste not the Pierian spring.
  • *
  • Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

    Noun

  • The deep part of a lake, sea, etc.
  • creatures of the deep
  • (US, rare) The profound part of a problem.
  • The sea, the ocean.
  • (cricket) A fielding position near the boundary.
  • Russell is a safe pair of hands in the deep .

    Derived terms

    * ankle-deep * beauty is only skin deep * deep background * deep blue sea * deep copy * deepen * deep down * deep drawing * deep end * deep fat * deep-fet * deep-freeze * deep freezer * deep-fry * deep in the money * deep in thought * deep kiss/deep-kiss * deep-laid * deep link * deep-mouthed * deep out of the money * deep pockets * deep-read * deap sea/deep-sea * deep-seated * deep-set * deep-six * Deep South * deep space * deep structure * deep supporting fire * deep thinker * Deep Thought * Deep Throat * deepthroat * deep vein thrombosis/DVT * deep web * deep well * in too deep * knee-deep * neck-deep * skin-deep * still waters run deep * waist-deep

    See also

    * deeps

    Statistics

    *

    below

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Lower in spatial position than.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.}}
  • Lower in value, price, rank or concentration than.
  • * Addison
  • one degree below kings
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Philip J. Bushnell, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , title= Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance , passage=Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.}}
  • Downstream of.
  • South of.
  • Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
  • * (John Milton)
  • They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, how below all history the persons and their actions were.
  • * Hallam
  • who thinks no fact below his regard
  • (stage directions) Downstage of.
  • * 1952 , (Frederick Knott), , 1954 (Dramatists Play Service) acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
  • Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.

    Synonyms

    * (lower in spatial position than) beneath, under, underneath * (lower in value than) under * (downstream of) downstream * (unsuitable to the rank or dignity of) beneath

    Antonyms

    * (lower in spatial position than) above, over * (lower in value than) over * (downstream of) upstream

    Derived terms

    * below the belt

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a lower place.
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶.
  • On a lower storey.
  • Further down.
  • (lb) On a lower deck.
  • :
  • (lb) Below zero.
  • Synonyms

    * (in a lower place) beneath, under, underneath * (on a lower storey) downstairs * (farther down) downwards

    Antonyms

    * (in a lower place) aloft, overhead, up * (on a lower storey) upstairs * (farther down) upwards

    Derived terms

    (below) * below average * below decks/belowdecks * belowground * below par * below the belt * below the fold

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

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