Feel vs Fathom - What's the difference?
feel | fathom | Related terms |
(lb) To use the sense of touch.
# To become aware of through the skin; to use the sense of touch on.
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#(lb) To find one's way (literally or figuratively) by touching or using cautious movements.
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#(lb) To receive information by touch or by any neurons other than those responsible for sight, smell, taste, or hearing.
#(lb) To search by sense of touch.
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(lb) To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally.
#(lb) To experience an emotion or other mental state about.
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#*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
#*:Teach me to feel another's woe.
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#*:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile?; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
#*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Lexington
, title= #(lb) To think, believe, or have an impression concerning.
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#*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
#*:Garlandswhich I feel / I am not worthy yet to wear.
#*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=19 # To experience an emotion or other mental state.
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#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
#(lb) To sympathise; to have the sensibilities moved or affected.
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#*(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)
#*:[She] feels with the dignity of a Roman matron.
#*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
#*:who feel for all mankind
(lb) To be or become aware of.
(lb) To experience the consequences of.
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(lb) To seem (through touch or otherwise).
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To understand.
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A quality of an object experienced by touch.
A vague mental impression.
An act of fondling.
A vague understanding
An intuitive ability
Alternative form of feeling
(obsolete) Grasp, envelopment, control.
(nautical) A measure of length corresponding to the outstretched arms, standardised to six feet, now used mainly for measuring depths in seas or oceans.
(by extension) Mental reach or scope; penetration; the extent of capacity; depth of thought or contrivance.
* Shakespeare
(archaic) To encircle with outstretched arms, especially to take a measurement; to embrace.
To measure the depth of, take a sounding of.
(figuratively) To get to the bottom of; to manage to comprehend (a problem etc.).
In transitive terms the difference between feel and fathom
is that feel is to experience the consequences of while fathom is to measure the depth of, take a sounding of.As verbs the difference between feel and fathom
is that feel is To use the sense of touch.fathom is to encircle with outstretched arms, especially to take a measurement; to embrace.As nouns the difference between feel and fathom
is that feel is a quality of an object experienced by touch while fathom is grasp, envelopment, control.As a pronoun feel
is alternative form of lang=en.As an adjective feel
is alternative form of lang=en.As an adverb feel
is alternative form of lang=en.feel
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) felen, from (etyl) .Verb
Keeping the mighty honest, passage=British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.}}
citation, passage=When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.}}
Usage notes
* Most prescriptive grammarians prefer "I feel bad" to "I feel badly", but "I feel badly" is widely used in US English. * (term) is sometimes used after (feel) in its copulative sense where one might expect an adjective, ie, (bad). * Some users use (badly) when referring to an emotional state, and (bad) when referring to a more physical or medical state. * Adjectives to which "feel" is often applied as a copula: free, cold, cool, warm, hot, young, old, good, great, fine, happy, glad, satisfied, excited, bad, depressed, unhappy, sad, blue, sorry, smart, stupid, loved, appreciated, accepted, rejected, lonely, isolated, insulted, offended, slighted, cheated, shy, refreshed, tired, exhausted, calm, relaxed, angry, annoyed, frustrated, anxious, worried, jealous, proud, confident, safe, grateful, uncomfortable, unsafe, insecure, desperate, guilty, ashamed, disappointed, dirty, odd, strange, ill, sick.Derived terms
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Noun
(en noun)- Bark has a rough feel .
- You should get a feel of the area before moving in.
- She gave me a quick feel to show that she loves me.
- I'm getting a feel for what you mean.
- She has a feel for music.
- I know that feel.
Derived terms
* cop a feel * get a feel for * mouthfeelStatistics
*Anagrams
*Etymology 2
From (etyl) feele, fele, feole, from (etyl) fela, feala, . Related to (l).Adjective
(-)fathom
English
Noun
(en noun)- Another of his fathom they have none / To lead their business (Othello, I.i. 151-2).
Synonyms
*(measure of length corresponding to the outstretched arms) braceVerb
(en verb)- I can't for the life of me fathom what this means.