up to the hub

prepositional phrase

As far as possible in embarrassment or difficulty, or in business; deeply involved.

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. archaicidiomaticAs far as possible in embarrassment or difficulty, or in business; deeply involved.

    I was up to the hub in love, and was goin' into it like a locomotive.

    1864, The Gleaner, page 13
    2 more examples

    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.

    Amateur work, illustrated (volume 4, page 406)

    […] I was like the wheels of the wagon, out of which I had made some of my capital — up to the hub in the mire of poverty, a heavy load forcing me deeper down, and no aid likely to be given me.

    1885, Andrew Madsen Smith, Up and Down in the World, Or, Paddle Your Own Canoe, page 106

Origin

Suggesting a wheel stuck in mud.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

up to the hub. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20to%20the%20hub

MLA

“up to the hub.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20to%20the%20hub. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “up to the hub,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20to%20the%20hub.

Source: up to the hub on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.