Select the most appropriate meaning of the underlined idiom. In those days, we did not expect luxuries; we were thankful if we could keep the wolf from the door.

Correct — C. Keep the wolf from the door means to have just enough money or food to hold off hunger — to stay clear of want, not to live comfortably.

The structure says as much on its own: keep X from Y means to prevent X from reaching Y. Whatever the wolf stands for, it is being held off, so the phrase must be about avoiding something bad.

The sentence frames it the same way: we did not expect luxuries and we were thankful if put the speaker at the bare minimum. That minimum is avoiding starvation → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Wallow in poverty — Wallow in poverty is sinking into want, but the idiom describes keeping want out. The wolf is at the door precisely because it is being stopped there.
• (b)
  Relish food — Relish food is about enjoying what you eat, and the sentence has already ruled out luxuries. The idiom is about having enough, not about pleasure.
• (d)
  Encourage starvation — Encourage starvation reverses the idiom. Keep ... from is a phrase of prevention, so nothing in it can be encouraging the thing being kept away.

Idiom-meaning items are answered from two places at once, and the second is the one candidates skip.

The first is the stored meaning of the phrase. The second is the sentence frame around it: here, we did not expect luxuries and we were thankful if both point to a bare sufficiency, which rules out any gloss involving enjoyment or plenty.

When the stored meaning is shaky, the frame will usually still fix the polarity — positive or negative, having enough or having nothing.

Key facts

• Keep the wolf from the door means to have just enough money or food to avoid going hungry.
• The pattern keep X from Y means to prevent X from reaching Y, so the idiom is one of prevention.
• Wallow in means to indulge in or luxuriate in a state, which is the opposite of holding that state off.

Common traps

• Choosing Wallow in poverty because the sentence is about being poor, when the idiom is about resisting the worst of it.
• Overlooking the from in keep ... from and reversing the meaning into Encourage starvation.
• Taking a literal cue from wolf or door instead of the fixed sense of the whole phrase.

No directly related past PYQ was found.