keep the home fires burning
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To maintain a stable home life while someone is away
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đảm bảo cuộc sống gia đình ổn định khi ai đó vắng mặt
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: keep the fires burning at home
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She kept the home fires burning while her husband was on military deployment
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “keep the home fires burning” mean?
To maintain a stable home life while someone is away Literally: keep the fires burning at home
Is “keep the home fires burning” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.