Word.ws English Dictionary

keeps the wolf from the door

keeps the wolf from the door is the third-person singular simple present indicative of keep the wolf from the door.

Meaning of keep the wolf from the door

Verb

keep the wolf from the door (third-person singular simple present keeps the wolf from the door, present participle keeping the wolf from the door, simple past and past participle kept the wolf from the door)

  1. (idiomatic) To ward off poverty or hunger.
    • They didn't earn much, but it was enough to keep the wolf from the door.
  2. (euphemistic, humorous, idiomatic) To delay sexual ejaculation.
    • Do you mind if I talk? It helps me keep the wolf from the door, so to speak. Jill, what do you think of the pedestrianization of Norwich city centre?1997, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, “Alan Attraction”, in I'm Alan Partridge, spoken by Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan)

Questions about keeps the wolf from the door

What is keeps the wolf from the door the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Keeps the wolf from the door is the third-person singular simple present indicative of keep the wolf from the door.

Words near keeps the wolf from the door in the dictionary

  1. keeps the pace
  2. keeps the peace
  3. keeps the pot boiling
  4. keeps the powder dry
  5. keeps the show on the road
  6. keeps the wolf from the door
  7. keeps time
  8. keeps to
  9. keeps to one's knitting
  10. keeps to oneself
  11. keeps together

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeps the wolf from the door (page history and authors); keep the wolf from the door (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “keeps the wolf from the door.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keeps_the_wolf_from_the_door. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.