in the thick of

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in the thick of

1. (idiomatic) In the middle of (something difficult).
   • 1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800:

     In the thick of the railway controversies of his day, Francis naturally had his prejudices. It seems that he cordially disliked the aristocracy in general.

   • 1991 August 24, Lewis Gannett, “Gore Stories”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 6, page 8:

     His stories about Huey, Eleanor and Jack, and other bigwigs of various worlds, reveal a life lived in the thick of legend.

   • 2011 January 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 0 - 0 Man Utd”, in BBC‎:

     Rooney was fit to return to United's line-up after missing two games with an ankle injury - and he was in the thick of the action right away as he raced on to Dimitar Berbatov's pass only to send a presentable finish wide from an acute angle.

• in the thick of it

• thick of things