- Meaning
- This idiom describes maintaining just enough resources—typically money, food, or work—to stave off poverty, hunger, or financial ruin, preventing dire circumstances from ‘entering’ one’s life. It evokes the image of a menacing wolf, symbolizing destitution or starvation, being kept at bay from one’s doorstep. The phrase is used in economic, personal, or survival contexts to convey a struggle for basic necessities, carrying a tone of desperation, resilience, or grim determination. It reflects cultural anxieties about scarcity and the relentless effort to secure survival, resonating in societies where economic precarity is a constant threat. The idiom often implies a precarious existence, highlighting the thin line between stability and collapse, and underscores the human drive to endure against adversity.
- Origin
- The phrase has roots in medieval Europe, where wolves were a real threat to rural communities, and hunger was likened to a predatory beast, as documented in 13th-century folklore. An early English use appears in John Heywood’s 1546 *Proverbs*: ‘To kepe the wolf from the dore.’ The idiom gained traction in the 16th century, reflecting agrarian fears of famine, as seen in Thomas More’s *Utopia* (1516), which discusses poverty’s perils. Its use grew in 19th-century British and American literature, particularly during industrialization’s economic upheavals, with Charles Dickens’ *David Copperfield* (1850) employing it to depict financial struggle. The phrase’s adoption was amplified by 20th-century economic crises, notably the Great Depression, when ‘keeping the wolf from the door’ became a common refrain in labor songs and journalism. Its vivid imagery, rooted in primal fears of predation, and its applicability to economic survival ensured its widespread use across English-speaking cultures, from Victorian workhouses to modern welfare debates.
- Variants
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- Keep the wolf from the door
- Keep the wolf at bay
- Keeping the wolf from the door
- Hold the wolf from the door
- Examples
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- She took a second job to keep the wolf from the door during the recession.
- Keep the wolf at bay by saving a little each month for emergencies.
- Keeping the wolf from the door, they sold their car to cover rent.
- Hold the wolf from the door—he’s working overtime to pay the bills.
- They kept the wolf from the door with a small garden that fed the family.
- Keeping the wolf from the door, she freelanced to make ends meet.
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