Meaning
In serious trouble or difficulty, typically a situation that has grown beyond what one can easily handle or escape; often used in progressive constructions such as 'the bank is in deep water over the loans scandal'. Standard, neutral-register English in both Britain and America. Neutral register; collocates naturally with 'be', 'get into', and words for trouble or difficulty. Regional use: General English.
Origin
This is an ancient metaphor rather than a coination with a discoverable first use: the Farlex Partner Idioms dictionary calls it a biblical metaphor and cites Psalm 69:14 ('let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters'), and the same image of sinking waters as overwhelming trouble recurs throughout older literature. Because the comparison of trouble to deep water is part of a long metaphorical tradition, no reliable first citation for the fixed English phrase could be verified in the sources consulted; Collins simply records it as current standard English. Claims of a precise origin date should therefore be avoided.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- get into deep water
- in deep waters
- into deep water
- still in deep water
Usage Examples
- The council is in deep water over the missing funds, and the auditors want answers this week.
- He found himself in deep water after promising clients results the laboratory could not deliver.
- Once the story broke, the minister was in deep water with both the press and her own party.