英和和英

発音

形容詞

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.

派生語

• knee-deep in the Big Muddy

参考

• hands-on