Word.ws English Dictionary

kept the pot boiling

kept the pot boiling is the simple past and past participle of keep the pot boiling.

Meaning of keep the pot boiling

Verb

keep the pot boiling (third-person singular simple present keeps the pot boiling, present participle keeping the pot boiling, simple past and past participle kept the pot boiling)

  1. (idiomatic) To maintain one's livelihood; to continue to procure the necessities of living.
  2. (idiomatic) To continue going on actively, as in certain games.
    • Of course, you intend to reach game eventually; on the next round you can keep the pot boiling with Three Diamonds.1969, Terence Reese, Albert Dormer, How to play a better game of bridge, page 42

Questions about kept the pot boiling

What is kept the pot boiling the simple past and past participle of?
Kept the pot boiling is the simple past and past participle of keep the pot boiling.

Words near kept the pot boiling in the dictionary

  1. kept the flag flying
  2. kept the home fires burning
  3. kept the lights on
  4. kept the pace
  5. kept the peace
  6. kept the pot boiling
  7. kept the powder dry
  8. kept the show on the road
  9. kept the wolf from the door
  10. kept time
  11. kept to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kept the pot boiling (page history and authors); keep the pot boiling (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: “kept the pot boiling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kept_the_pot_boiling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.