keep (one's) nose clean
(redirected from keeps someone's nose clean)keep (one's) nose clean
To behave properly; to stay out of trouble. You better keep your nose clean, kid, or you're going to run into trouble you can't handle.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
keep one's nose clean
Fig. to keep out of trouble, especially trouble with the law. I'm trying to keep my nose clean by staying away from those rough guys. John, if you don't learn how to keep your nose clean, you're going to end up in jail.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
keep one's nose clean
Stay out of trouble. For example, Dad told Brian to keep his nose clean from now on or he'd cut off his allowance. [Colloquial; late 1800s]
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 nose clean
INFORMALIf you keep your nose clean, you behave well and avoid trouble. He'd worked hard and kept his nose clean for all those years. He told me to keep my nose clean and my mouth shut.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
keep your nose clean
stay out of trouble. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
keep your ˈnose clean
(informal) do nothing that will get you into trouble with the police or other authorities: After he came out of prison, he was determined to keep his nose clean.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
keep one’s nose clean
tv. to keep out of trouble, especially trouble with the law. I can keep my nose clean. Don’t worry.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
keep (one's) nose clean
Informal To stay out of trouble.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
keep your nose clean
Stay out of trouble. This slangy phrase began to be heard in Britain in the late nineteenth century and crossed the Atlantic soon afterward. Why cleanliness should be invoked is not known. Presumably keeping one’s nose clean would be equivalent to not dirtying it by poking it into someone else’s business (see poke one’s nose into). Anyhow, the term was very common by the 1940s, when it appeared in such popular novels as Manning Long’s False Alarm (1943): “Keep your nose clean and you’ll keep out of trouble.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer