up to the hub

== English == === Etymology === Suggesting a wheel stuck in mud. === Prepositional phrase === up to the hub (archaic, idiomatic) As far as possible in embarrassment or difficulty, or in business; deeply involved. Amateur work, illustrated (volume 4, page 406) I am afraid A. F. S. (Dresden) gets "up to the hub" in engineering difficulties sometimes, but this will help him to appreciate the force, beauty and application of the expression. === References === “hub”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.