waist-deep
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of waist-deep
First recorded in 1755–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He returned the following day to find his shop "flooded to waist-deep level".
From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025
She ran downstairs to find her grandson waist-deep in the foul mix, holding the television above his head.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
Many parts of the city remain inundated in waist-deep water, with videos showing residents swimming through waterlogged roads as garbage gushed out from clogged sewers.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
In the last two decades, he has been robbed on public transit, waded through the street in waist-deep floods and spent endless hours stuck in traffic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2024
I landed in waist-deep water and then high-stepped across.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
