eke

¹ American  

[eek] / ik /

verb (used with object)

eked, eking

1. to increase; enlarge; lengthen.

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verb phrase

1. eke out

   1. to make (a living) or support (existence) laboriously.

      They managed to eke out a living by farming a small piece of land.

   2. to supplement; add to; stretch.

      to eke out an income with odd jobs.

eke ² American  

[eek] / ik /

adverb

Archaic.

1. also.

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eke ¹ British  

/ iːk /

verb

1. archaic (tr) to increase, enlarge, or lengthen

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eke ² British  

/ iːk /

1. archaic also; moreover

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Etymology

Origin of eke¹

before 1000; Middle English eken, Old English ēac ( i ) an (intransitive), derivative of ēaca (noun) increase; Middle English echen, Old English ēcan, variant of īecan (transitive) < West Germanic *aukjan; both akin to Old Norse auka, Gothic aukan, Latin augēre, Greek auxánein to increase, amplify

Origin of eke²

before 900; Middle English eek, Old English ēc, ēac; cognate with German auch, Old Norse, Gothic auk

Example Sentences

But the Hurricanes sent A&M quarterback Marcel Reed to the ground seven times—including three occasions in the fourth quarter alone—allowing their offense to eke out a 10-3 victory.

From The Wall Street Journal

Wall Street is betting that falling interest rates and strong corporate earnings will be enough to eke out yet one more year of stock-market gains.

From The Wall Street Journal

November wasn’t exactly a great month for the U.S. stock market, although the S&P 500 did manage to eke out a small gain.

From MarketWatch

He said Cubans who have access to dollars from relatives abroad can eke by.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Nasdaq Composite managed to eke out a 0.2% gain after being down as much as 0.6% earlier in the day.

From Barron's