knee-deep en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English kne-depe; equivalent to knee + deep.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) 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:
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(not-comparable) 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:
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(broadly, figuratively, not-comparable) 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:
Coordinates
neck-deep · waist-deep · elbow-deep · neck-deep · waist-deep · elbow-deep
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
up to one's elbows · up to one's neck · bogged down · waist-deep · elbow-deep · in the thick of it · neck-deep
Translations (6)
ru по коле́но (reaching up to the knees) · ka მუხლის სიმაღლე (reaching up to the knees) · ceb tagatuhod (reaching up to the knees) · it fino al collo (deeply involved) · is hnédjúpur (reaching up to the knees) · de knietief (reaching up to the knees)