knee-deep

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   reaching as high as the knees, or submerged up to the knees

   After the storm, the orchard was knee-deep in muddy water.

2. 2
   adj

   deeply involved in, occupied by, or overwhelmed with something

   By noon, the auditors were knee-deep in conflicting financial records.

From Middle English kne-depe, a compound of knee + deep. The literal sense, recorded from the fifteenth century, describes a substance reaching the knees; the figurative sense extends the image to being heavily surrounded by work, trouble, or another concern.

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