Ankle-deep

high enough to reach or cover the ankles:
ankle-deep mud.
deeply involved or entangled:
he is ankle-deep in financial troubles.
as high as the ankles:
rain water ran ankle-deep.
historical examples

he had slipped heavily, as he paddled through the ankle-deep mud, and had hurt his back.
tell england ernest raymond

oil was on everybody’s tongue and ankle-deep in some of the streets.
charles frohman: manager and man isaac frederick marcosson and daniel frohman

even william bentley, the toolmaker, romped and raced in the ankle-deep dust like a boy.
claim number one george w. (george washington) ogden

stepping heedlessly into the ankle-deep muck, solange walked forward.
louisiana lou william west winter

at the right-hand side of the house was a good-sized farm-yard, kept more than ankle-deep in gorse and bracken litter.
jose: our little portuguese cousin edith a. (edith augusta) sawyer

another morning came, and there they sat, ankle-deep in cards.
the young duke benjamin disraeli

it was, however, ankle-deep of mud—a circ-mstance by no means likely to prolong the existence of my glazed boots.
tales from blackwood various

she had slept soundly, the day was clear, the air crisp, the snow was not ankle-deep.
painted veils james huneker

the man looked as if he wished he could sink out of sight in the ankle-deep water.
pagan p-ssions gordon randall garrett

by nightfall of this day the room was ankle-deep in pearls and diamonds.
toto’s merry winter laura e. richards