off the streets

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   no longer living or spending time on the streets, especially after being homeless or in danger

   Grammar: Used after be or get: the family is off the streets; get them off the streets.

   Patterns

   • be off the streets
   • get someone off the streets
   • take someone off the streets

   The charity helped get dozens of young people off the streets last winter.

   After months of sleeping rough, he finally got off the streets and into a small flat.

   The new shelter aims to take families off the streets for good.

2. 2phrasefixed phrase

   not present on the roads or in public places, especially so as to stop trouble or danger

   Grammar: Often used with keep or get: keep troublemakers off the streets.

   Patterns

   • keep someone off the streets
   • get someone off the streets

   Police patrols kept the gangs off the streets that night.

   The curfew was meant to keep teenagers off the streets after dark.

Common combinations

get someone off the streets

The program gets homeless veterans off the streets.

keep someone off the streets

Youth clubs help keep kids off the streets.

take someone off the streets

A kind neighbor took him off the streets and gave him a room.

be off the streets

For the first time in years, she is off the streets.

Synonyms and how they differ

off the road

Used for drivers who are banned from driving, not for homeless people.

indoors

Simply means inside a building; it does not suggest rescue from homelessness or danger.

Opposites

Commonly confused: off the streets or on the streets?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “off the streets”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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