keep the wolf from the door

动词 v.
中文释义

英文释义

动词 v.
  1. To ward off poverty or hunger. idiomatic
    — They didn't earn much, but it was enough to keep the wolf from the door.
  2. To delay sexual ejaculation. euphemistic,humorous,idiomatic
    — 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?

词形变化

keeps the wolf from the door present,singular,third-person keeping the wolf from the door participle,present kept the wolf from the door participle,past kept the wolf from the door past

词汇关系

相关词
keep the home fires burning the wolf is at the door

词源

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”.
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