idiom (phrase) · neutral
be up to one's neck (in something)
UK/bi ʌp tuː wʌnz nek ɪn ˈsʌmθɪŋ/US/bi ʌp tu wʌnz nɛk ɪn ˈsʌmθɪŋ/be UP·TO·ONE'S·NECK (in·SOM·ething)
To be extremely busy with or involved in something, often more than one can handle.
Examples
“I'm up to my neck in coursework this semester.”
“They were up to their necks in debt after the business failed.”
“The team is up to its neck in paperwork before the audit.”
Band 8 sentence
“With three concurrent deadlines, the researchers were up to their necks in experiments and data analysis.”
Collocations
- up to one's neck in work
- up to one's neck in debt
Word family
Common mistakes
up to neck→up to one's neck
up to your necks→up to your neck
Say it for a higher band
5very busy→6overwhelmed→7+be up to one's neck (in something)
Synonyms
overwhelmed
buried in work
Easily confused
be swamped
“I'm swamped with emails at the moment.”
Related words
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