Word.ws English Dictionary

kept one's nose clean

kept one's nose clean is the simple past and past participle of keep one's nose clean.

Meaning of keep one's nose clean

Verb

keep one's nose clean (third-person singular simple present keeps one's nose clean, present participle keeping one's nose clean, simple past and past participle kept one's nose clean)

  1. (idiomatic) To stay out of trouble, especially by avoiding unlawful behavior.
    • They tell us, "Keep your nose clean and you'll no doubt make a parole." So we keep our noses very clean.1947, American Correctional Association, American Journal of Correction, page 6

Questions about kept one's nose clean

What is kept one's nose clean the simple past and past participle of?
Kept one's nose clean is the simple past and past participle of keep one's nose clean.

Words near kept one's nose clean in the dictionary

  1. kept one's head upon one's shoulders
  2. kept one's knickers on
  3. kept one's lips sealed
  4. kept one's mouth shut
  5. kept one's nerve
  6. kept one's nose clean
  7. kept one's options open
  8. kept one's own counsel
  9. kept one's pants on
  10. kept one's pecker up
  11. kept one's powder dry

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kept one's nose clean (page history and authors); keep one's nose clean (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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