turn an honest penny

English

Verb

turn an honest penny (third-person singular simple present turns an honest penny, present participle turning an honest penny, simple past and past participle turned an honest penny)

1. To earn money by honest methods.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[15]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     My client is an infant, a poor foreign immigrant who started scratch as a stowaway and is now trying to turn an honest penny.