keep the wolf from the door

Idioms  

1. Ward off starvation or financial ruin. For example, In many countries people are working simply to keep the wolf from the door, and owning a car or washing machine is just a dream, or Gail would take any job now, just to keep the wolf from the door. This term alludes to the wolf's fabled ravenousness. [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

These survivors are here to keep the wolf from the door — to socialize, to dance and drink.

From New York Times • Nov. 24, 2017

A win may keep the wolf from the door but a loss could unleash the whole pack.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2016

Wenger still manages to get the wins to keep the wolf from the door but still has serious issues to address - if he chooses to address them.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2014

You get paid rather well, not in a Premier League footballer or elite golfer sort of way but enough to keep the wolf from the door.

From The Guardian • Mar. 25, 2011

Not very good ones, perhaps, but we keep to ourselves and manage to keep the wolf from the door.

From Captain Macedoine's Daughter by McFee, William