keep (one's) head above water
(redirected from keeping your head above water)keep (one's) head above water
1. Literally, to hold one's head out of the water as to avoid drowning. This lifejacket will help Sally to keep her head above water in the pool.
2. To (barely) avoid being consumed by a stressful or unpleasant situation (often related to work or finance). If credit cards are the only thing keeping your head above water, then your situation is more dire than I thought.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
keep one's head above water
1. Lit. to keep from drowning when swimming or floating. (See also get one's head above water.) I was so tired I could hardly keep my head above water.
2. . Fig. to manage to survive, especially financially. We have so little money that we can hardly keep our heads above water. It's hard to keep your head above water on this much money.
3. Fig. to keep up with one's work. It's all I can do to keep my head above water with the work I have. I can't take on any more. We have so many orders that we can hardly keep our heads above water.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
head above water, keep one's
Stay out of trouble, especially financial difficulties; also, keep up with work or other demands. For example, With new bills coming in every day they're barely keeping their heads above water, or The work's piling up, but I manage to keep my head above water. This expression alludes to keeping oneself from drowning. [Early 1700s] Also see in deep.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
keep your head above water
COMMON If you keep your head above water, you have just enough money to live on or to continue with a business. Thousands of small businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water. I need two jobs just to keep my head above water.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
keep your head above water
avoid succumbing to difficulties, especially falling into debt.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
keep your ˈhead above water
succeed in staying out of debt; manage to deal with tasks, responsibilities, etc: The company had great difficulty keeping its head above water during the economic crisis. ♢ I don’t know how she manages to keep her head above water. She has so much to do.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
keep one's head above water, to
To avoid financial ruin; also, to avoid being overwhelmed by overwork, too many commitments, or other excessive demands. This saying, with its analogy to being drowned, dates from the early eighteenth century. “I have almost drowned myself to keep his head above water,” wrote John Arbuthnot in John Bull (1712).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer