keep the wolf from the door

Definition

To ward off poverty or hunger.

Etymology

The 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”.

Example Sentences

• "They didn't earn much, but it was enough to keep the wolf from the door."
• "I'll grab a sandwich to keep the wolf from the door until dinner time."
• "And my calling be simple and poor, / Yet will I endeavour myself / To keep off the wolf from the door."