knee-deep

See also: kneedeep

English

Etymology

From Middle English kne-depe; equivalent to knee +‎ deep.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

knee-deep (not comparable)

1. Reaching up to the knees.

   Coordinate terms: elbow-deep; waist-deep; neck-deep

   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 277:

     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.

2. Submerged to the knees.

   Coordinate terms: elbow-deep; waist-deep; neck-deep

   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 241:

     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.

3. (figuratively, by extension) Deeply involved in something, or preoccupied with something.

   Synonyms: elbow-deep, up to one's elbows; waist-deep; neck-deep, up to one's neck; in the thick of it; bogged down

   • 2007, Katherine D. Jones, Dangerous Dilemmas, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Noire Passion, Parker Publishing, LLC, →ISBN, page 113:

     By the time Tracey arrived, Kayla was working on her second cup of café mocha and knee-deep in paperwork.

   • 2021, Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, “What is... jealousy?”, in Let's Talk About It, →ISBN, page 191:

     When you're knee-deep in these insecure feelings, it can be hard to see clearly.

Derived terms

• knee-deep in the Big Muddy

Translations

reaching up to the knees

• Cebuano: tagatuhod
• Georgian: მუხლის სიმაღლე (muxlis simaɣle)
• German: knietief (de)
• Icelandic: hnédjúpur (is)
• Russian: по коле́но (po koléno)

deeply involved

• Italian: fino al collo

See also

• hands-on