keep one's head above water
Meaning: To just barely manage to stay ahead, financially (sentence 1) or with one's work or responsibilities (sentence 2).
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Keep one's head above water and make ends meet mean having just enough money but no extra, although the former conveys a greater feeling of desperation. Keep one's head above water can mean survival in a financial or other sense, whereas make ends meet always refers to a financial situation.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- keep one's nose to the grindstone — To work hard without rest.
- knee-high to a grasshopper — Very young.
- laugh all the way to the bank — To be proved right or successful in the face of scorn, particularly as regards money.
- lead someone around by the nose — To dominate someone; to force someone to do something.
- lend someone an ear — To listen to someone.
- like water off a duck's back — Having no effect on someone.
More English idioms
- look down one's nose at someone or something — To be snobbish about someone or something.
- make one's blood boil — To cause someone to become extremely angry.
- make one's mouth water — To make one salivate in anticipation of something good.
- millstone around one's neck — A burden or handicap, or a source of worry or concern.
- more than meets the eye — Some hidden aspect to a situation.
- neck of the woods — An area; a place.
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