bathysphere

American  

[bath-uh-sfeer] / ˈbæθ əˌsfɪər /

noun

Oceanography.

1. a spherical diving apparatus from which to study deep-sea life, lowered into the ocean depths by a cable.

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bathysphere British  

/ ˈbæθɪˌsfɪə /

noun

1. a strong steel deep-sea diving sphere, lowered by cable

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bathysphere Scientific  

/ băth′ĭ-sfîr′ /

1. A hollow, spherical steel diving chamber in which people are lowered by cable from a surface vessel to explore the ocean depths. In 1934 a bathysphere carrying William Beebe and an associate reached a record depth of over 923 m (3,028 ft). Because space in the bathysphere is cramped, dives longer than three-and-a-half hours are intolerable, and it was eventually supplanted by the bathyscaphe.

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Etymology

Origin of bathysphere

First recorded in 1925–30; bathy- + -sphere

Example Sentences

A broken cable would send the bathysphere plummeting into oblivion.

From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2023

The first bathysphere made its initial descent off an island in Bermuda on June 6, 1930, lowered into the Atlantic Ocean by a shipboard winch.

From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2023

Hollister became invaluable as an experienced ichthyologist, and she made research descents in the bathysphere.

From Nature • Dec. 18, 2018

A bathysphere is a capsule; a sarcophagus is a capsule.

From Time • Feb. 20, 2012

The submarines were of steel as thick as Abbot's bathysphere.

From Astounding Stories, August, 1931 by Various