above water
13
3.5
- idiom
- Glad to see you are on the upswing, and hopefully you will keep your head above water.
- keep their head above water
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeBut I mean, in Hawaii, I, I just kept my head above water.
- But I mean, in Hawaii, I, I just kept my head above water.
- But my only real focus at this time was just like keeping my head above water.
- And that definitely without my realizing it perhaps was the the the buoy that kept my head above water.
- And right now, man, we've just got to keep strong, kind of keep head above water.
Examples
-
How are small municipal utilities keeping their heads above water?
Academic text (1997) -
It's the people who are struggling to pay their bills and barely keeping their heads above water.
Blog text (23) -
We kept our head above water.
-
Yeah, if I can manage to keep my head above water.
-
And half the businesses on this block are barely above water.
-
Are we keeping our heads above water?
Fiction book (1996) -
Guys, we're barely keeping our heads above water.
-
I'm keeping my head above water.
-
Of course, mostly I'm just trying to keep my head above water now that I'm back at work.
Blog text (16) -
After cutting back on expenses, we are finally above water again.
Synonyms
14
5.5
Having more money than you owe
Antonyms
How Solvent
Surface Forms
Morphology
above + water
The phrase uses the literal words 'above' (higher than) and 'water' but applies a common drowning/float metaphor to finances, so a learner who knows the words can often infer a sense of 'not being submerged' or 'not drowning' financially. The mapping to the specific meaning 'financially solvent' is metaphorical rather than strictly compositional, though similar metaphors exist cross-linguistically, making it partly but not fully predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase above water comes from the clear image of a boat or swimmer staying above the water so they do not sink. So, to be above water means 'having enough money to avoid going into debt'.