English Explanatory Dictionary

up to here

English dictionary entry

Meanings

prep_phrase
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see up to, here.
  2. Overwhelmed, busy, buried or swamped.
  3. Used as an intensifier.

Pronunciation

En-au-up to here.ogg

Word forms

up to here up to one's eyeballs up to one's eyes up to one's ears up to one's neck

Etymology

All such constructions, along with elbow-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, neckdeep, and so on, rely on the same metaphor: the depth to which a wader or swimmer is submerged in a body of water.

Related words

drowning flood the zone keep one's head above water stem the tide tread water

Derived words

have had it up to here
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