Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
keep the home fires burning. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
keep the home fires burning, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
keep the home fires burning in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
keep the home fires burning you have here. The definition of the word
keep the home fires burning will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
keep the home fires burning, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
A reference to keeping campfires, lights, etc. at one's home village burning, often while part of the population travels elsewhere to hunt, etc.
Pronunciation
Verb
keep the home fires burning (third-person singular simple present keeps the home fires burning, present participle keeping the home fires burning, simple past and past participle kept the home fires burning)
- (idiomatic, colloquial) To maintain daily routine and provide the necessities of life in a home or community.
1881, Andrew Jackson Davis, The genesis and ethics of conjugal love, page 115:We got our water from a pump in the backyard and there is no domestic fatigue indoors or out-of-doors that I have not done continuously, not for fun but to keep the home fires burning.
2005, Karen Houppert, Home fires burning: married to the military, for better or worse, →ISBN, page xix:While the military has moved to gender-neutral language in all its official descriptions of the "spouses" who keep the home fires burning during deployments […]
See also