keep off the streets
English
Alternative forms
- keep off the street
Verb
keep off the streets (third-person singular simple present keeps off the streets, present participle keeping off the streets, simple past and past participle kept off the streets)
- (transitive, idiomatic) To inspire or cause (someone) to avoid idleness, unemployment, poverty, or antisocial behavior.
- 1992, Les Roberts, chapter 4, in Seeing the Elephant, →ISBN:
- "Dolly Nemeroff said you're a private detective in California."
[…] "It's an archaic line of work, but it keeps me off the streets."
- 2010, January 10, Michael Crabb, "Former bad boy now a prince," Toronto Star (Canada) (retrieved 9 March 2022):
- The Prague-born Jelinek, 32, arrived in Toronto this month to become a principal with the National Ballet of Canada. […] But he'd never have reached this point if his single mom, who died when he was 17, hadn't put him in ballet school to keep him off the streets.
- 2010, October 24, Julia Werdigier, "British Kids Log On and Learn Math — in Punjab," New York Times (retrieved 9 March 2022):
- "The kids love it because they love computers," said Ms. Hanson, "and I love it because it helps them with their education while keeping them off the streets."
- 2013, April 10, Michelle Obama, "Remarks by the First Lady at the Joint Luncheon Meeting," obamawhitehouse.archives.gov (retrieved 9 March 2022):
- And back then, our parents knew that if they loved and encouraged us, if they kept us off the streets and out of trouble, then we'd be okay.
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