He works two jobs just to keep the wolf from the door.
keep the wolf from the door
idiomTo ward off poverty or hunger.
Origin
first recorded 15th c. disputed originThe original saying may have been keep the wolf from the gate, which dates from at least 1470. By the 1500s the saying had become keep the wolf from the door, with the current meaning that it bears: see, for example, the 1645 quotation. There is a suggestion that the phrase may have originated from French or German phrases. Compare the French manger comme un loup (“eat like a wolf”), and the German Wolfsmagen (literally “wolf’s stomach”) means “a keen appetite”.
During the difficult economic crisis, her small salary was barely enough to keep the wolf from the door.
Despite the meager wages earned from his seasonal labor, he managed to keep the wolf from the door throughout the long, unforgiving winter.
- 01
bang down the door
To present oneself as a strong candidate for a role or achievement, explicitly or implicitly.
- 02
close the stable door after the horse has bolted
To attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred; to design and implement a preventive mechanism that is too late (after the first failure instead of before).
- 03
cobbler, keep to your last
One should not criticise matters outside one's field of expertise; one should mind one's business.
- 04
cry wolf
To raise a false alarm; to constantly warn others about an imagined threat, thereby failing to get assistance when a real threat appears.
- 05
darken a church door
To go to church to attend a service.
- 06
darken someone's door
To arrive at someone's residence or location, especially as an unexpected visitor.
- 07
don't let the door hit you on the way out
Used as a command to leave in haste, or to indicate that one is glad, or at least unmoved, to see the addressed person leaving.
- 08
earn one's keep
To perform satisfactory physical labor or to provide other worthy services in return for remuneration, lodging, or other benefits; to support oneself financially.