plumb /plʌm/ TEM8 ( plumbing, plumbed, plumbs )

• 1. 

  V-T If you plumb something mysterious or difficult to understand, you succeed in understanding it. 探出究竟 [文学性]

  例：

  She never abandoned her attempts to plumb my innermost emotions.

  她从未放弃过洞悉我内心深处情感的努力。

• 2. 

  V-T When someone plumbs a building, they put in all the pipes for carrying water. 铺设水管

  例：

  She learned to wire and plumb the house herself.

  她学会了自己给房子排线和铺设水管。

• 3. 

  PHRASE If someone plumbs the depths of an unpleasant emotion or quality, they experience it or show it to an extreme degree. 经受极度的···; 表现出极端的··· [oft PHR 'of' n]

  例：

  They frequently plumb the depths of loneliness, humiliation, and despair.

  他们常常陷入孤独、屈辱和绝望的深渊。

• 4. 

  PHRASE If you say that something plumbs new depths, you mean that it is worse than all the things of its kind that have existed before, even though some of them have been very bad. 糟糕到新低点; 降至最低点 [oft PHR 'of' n]

  例：

  Relations between the two countries have plumbed new depths.

  这两国关系已降至最低点。