knee-deep

Adjective

knee-deep (not comparable)

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

   Synonyms:

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