"thick of things" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "the thick of things",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun",
        "head": "the thick of things"
      },
      "expansion": "the thick of things",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1888, Joseph Augustus Seiss, Lectures on the Gospels, vol. 2, Lutheran Bookstore (Philadelphia), p. 767",
          "text": "Christ calls for large ideas, bold enterprise, heavy undertakings, brave adventure, and heroic plunging into the thick of things."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1935 July 3, Charley Gehringer, “Second Base is Toughest Position to Play”, in Pittsburgh Press, page 13:",
          "text": "Second base is a pleasurable post for the reason that the man covering it is in the thick of things at all times.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 December 15, “VP Race Is On”, in Fiji Times, Australia:",
          "text": "During the coup he also kept his distance from the thick of things.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A central or major role in a situation; a position in which one is surrounded by or very involved in complex, changing events."
      ],
      "id": "en-thick_of_things-en-noun-XVvcwDML",
      "links": [
        [
          "central",
          "central"
        ],
        [
          "major",
          "major"
        ],
        [
          "role",
          "role"
        ],
        [
          "surround",
          "surround"
        ],
        [
          "involve",
          "involve"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A central or major role in a situation; a position in which one is surrounded by or very involved in complex, changing events."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "in the swim"
        },
        {
          "word": "in the thick of it"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-thick of things.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/25/En-au-thick_of_things.ogg/En-au-thick_of_things.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/En-au-thick_of_things.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thick of things"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "the thick of things",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun",
        "head": "the thick of things"
      },
      "expansion": "the thick of things",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "in the swim"
    },
    {
      "word": "in the thick of it"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1888, Joseph Augustus Seiss, Lectures on the Gospels, vol. 2, Lutheran Bookstore (Philadelphia), p. 767",
          "text": "Christ calls for large ideas, bold enterprise, heavy undertakings, brave adventure, and heroic plunging into the thick of things."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1935 July 3, Charley Gehringer, “Second Base is Toughest Position to Play”, in Pittsburgh Press, page 13:",
          "text": "Second base is a pleasurable post for the reason that the man covering it is in the thick of things at all times.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 December 15, “VP Race Is On”, in Fiji Times, Australia:",
          "text": "During the coup he also kept his distance from the thick of things.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A central or major role in a situation; a position in which one is surrounded by or very involved in complex, changing events."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "central",
          "central"
        ],
        [
          "major",
          "major"
        ],
        [
          "role",
          "role"
        ],
        [
          "surround",
          "surround"
        ],
        [
          "involve",
          "involve"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A central or major role in a situation; a position in which one is surrounded by or very involved in complex, changing events."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-thick of things.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/25/En-au-thick_of_things.ogg/En-au-thick_of_things.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/En-au-thick_of_things.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thick of things"
}