✨📕 The NEW Collegiate Dictionary, 12th Edition Over 5,000 words added — Learn More!
✨📕 The NEW Collegiate Dictionary — Learn More!

keep one's nose clean

phrase

: to avoid trouble especially through good behavior

Browse Nearby Words

keep one's mouth shut
keep one's nose clean
keep one's nose out of
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Keep one's nose clean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keep%20one%27s%20nose%20clean. Accessed 12 Dec. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Definition revised
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'Buck Naked' or 'Butt Naked'?

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

17 Words for Dog Breeds

How 'Namaste' Entered The English Language

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
baby chick with a brown egg
Which Came First? "Jeggings" or "mom jeans"? "Chillax" or "dumpster...
See All