keep the pot boiling

present singular third person keeps the pot boiling · participle present keeping the pot boiling · participle past kept the pot boiling · past kept the pot boiling

1. idiomaticTo maintain one's livelihood; to continue to procure the necessities of living.
2. idiomaticTo continue going on actively, as in certain games.

   Of course, you intend to reach game eventually; on the next round you can keep the pot boiling with Three Diamonds.

   1969, Terence Reese, Albert Dormer, How to play a better game of bridge, page 42

   1 more example

   These are in the nature of party games intended for fun rather than competition, though part of the fun may well consist in imposing forfeits on players who fail to keep the pot boiling.

   1982, David Sidney Parlett, The Penguin book of word games, page 55