keep the wolf from the door have enough money to avert hunger or starvation.

☞ The phrase has been used in this sense since the mid 16th century, but the image of the wolf as a symbol of a devouring and destructive force is found much earlier than this. In Matthew 10:16, for example, Jesus tells his disciples: 'Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves'.