Thick With: Standard Pattern
Thick With: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than turning one attested complement into a universal prohibition.
Use “thick with” when something is covered in or full of a particular substance.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning | Pattern | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| covered in a substance | be thick with + noun | Use the documented construction. |
| full of a substance or material | be thick with + noun | Use the same attested pattern. |
| another sense of “thick” | use the grammar for that sense | Do not turn this construction into a universal complement rule. |
Quick tests
Covered-or-full test
Does “thick” mean covered in or full of the substance that follows?
If yes: Use “thick with + noun.”
If no: If “thick” means dense, wide, unintelligent, or something else, use the construction appropriate to that sense.
Caveat: The evidence supports this construction for the covered/full meaning only.
Examples
The air was thick with smoke.
The complement names the substance filling the air.
The path was thick with fallen leaves.
The construction presents the path as heavily covered.
The old shelf was thick with dust.
“With” introduces the substance covering the surface.
Further guidance
Construction
Use “thick with” when something is covered in or full of a particular substance.
Style Boundary
Cambridge directly documents “be thick with something” for being covered in or full of a substance. Other senses of “thick” have different grammar and meanings.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- thick — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary entry directly documenting be thick with something for something covered in or full of a particular substance.