in at the deep end
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To start something difficult or challenging immediately
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bắt đầu điều gì đó khó khăn hoặc thử thách ngay lập tức
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: in the deep part of a swimming pool
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She was thrown in at the deep end on her first day of work
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “in at the deep end” mean?
To start something difficult or challenging immediately Literally: in the deep part of a swimming pool
Is “in at the deep end” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.