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Synonyms

eke out

British  

verb

  1. to make (a supply) last, esp by frugal use

    they eked out what little food was left

  2. to support (existence) with difficulty and effort

  3. to add to (something insufficient), esp with effort

    to eke out an income with evening work
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
eke out Idioms  

  1. Supplement, make last, as in The survivors eked out their food and water until they were rescued . [Late 1500s]

  2. Get with great difficulty or effort, as in The soil was terrible but they managed to eke out a living by rotating crops . [Early 1800s]

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.