keep the pot boiling

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To maintain a situation or activity at a steady level of interest or excitement

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Đảm bảo một tình huống hoặc hoạt động ở mức độ quan tâm hoặc hứng thú ổn định

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: keep a pot of liquid boiling
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The scandal kept the pot boiling in the media for weeks

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 pot boiling” mean?

To maintain a situation or activity at a steady level of interest or excitement Literally: keep a pot of liquid boiling

Is “keep the pot boiling” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.