Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

deepen

 verb
     
deep‧en
1

get worse

[intransitive] if a serious situation deepens, it gets worse - used especially in news reports:
The recession continues to deepen.
a deepening international crisis
2

become stronger

[intransitive and transitive] to become stronger or greater, or to make something stronger or greater:
Jeanne liked Simon as a friend but she did not want the relationship to deepen.
The idea only deepened his gloom.
The mystery deepened (=became even more mysterious).
Students explore new ideas as they deepen their understanding (=understand more) of the subject.
3

expression on somebody's face

[intransitive] literary if someone's smile or frown deepens, they smile even more or frown even more:
Her worried frown deepened.
4

water

[intransitive and transitive] if water deepens, or if someone deepens it, it becomes deeper:
The river deepens beyond the town.
The harbour was deepened to take bigger boats.
5

colour

[intransitive] literary if light or a colour deepens, it becomes darker:
The twilight deepened.
6

sound

[intransitive] if a sound deepens, it becomes lower:
His voice deepened as he relaxed.
7

breath

[intransitive] if your breathing deepens, you take more air into your lungs
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary