make ends meet

Cultural  

1. To earn enough income to provide for basic needs: “The workers complained that on their present wages they could hardly make ends meet, let alone enjoy any luxuries.”

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make ends meet Idioms  

1. Manage so that one's financial means are enough for one's needs, as in On that salary Enid had trouble making ends meet. This expression originated as make both ends meet, a translation from the French joindre les deux bouts (by John Clarke, 1639). The ends, it is assumed, allude to the sum total of income and expenditures. However, naval surgeon and novelist Tobias Smollett had it as “make the two ends of the year meet” (Roderick Random, 1748), thought to go back to the common practice of splicing rope ends together in order to cut shipboard expenses.

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Example Sentences

“Not a day went by when we didn’t get a call with people struggling to make ends meet without a job. People were desperate,” Porcelli said.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

While inflation has slowed sharply, many Argentines say they still struggle to make ends meet, and polls suggest growing fatigue with Milei’s combative style.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Liu Xiaoli, who faces eviction from her subdivided flat, works two part-time jobs as a cook and cleaner to make ends meet after her divorce, and supports her daughter and granddaughter in mainland China.

From Barron's • May 28, 2026

Jones reached a career-high of 65 in January and has £890,000 in career earnings, but says she still struggles to make ends meet.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

His father worked as a stoker at the factory, barely earning enough to make ends meet.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Related Words

• collect
• conserve
• keep
• maintain
• manage
• spare
• store