knee-deep
adjEtymology From Middle English kne-depe; equivalent to knee + deep.
1
Reaching up to the knees.
- High above stood the ash-tree, its boughs covered with the toy-like bunches called "locks and keys;" and beyond spread the meadows, knee-deep with the verdant grass.1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 277:
2
Submerged to the knees.
- This gave me a hint, and I went knee-deep, and sometimes neck-deep, in the Red Weed. The density of the weed gave me a reassuring sense of hiding.1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 241:
3
Broadly, Figuratively Deeply involved (in something) or preoccupied (with something).
- By the time Tracey arrived, Kayla was working on her second cup of café mocha and knee-deep in paperwork.2007, Katherine D. Jones, Dangerous Dilemmas, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Noire Passion, Parker Publishing, LLC, →ISBN, page 113:
- When you're knee-deep in these insecure feelings, it can be hard to see clearly.2021, Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, “What is... jealousy?”, in Let's Talk About It, →ISBN, page 191:
- Derived terms
- knee-deep in the Big Muddy
- Related terms
- hands-on