eke
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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ekes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
eked,
past participle, past
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eking
present participle
verb phrase
adverb
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ekesimple
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ekessimple
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have ekedperfect
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has ekedperfect
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am ekingprogressive
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are ekingprogressive
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is ekingprogressive
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have been ekingperfect progressive
-
has been ekingperfect progressive
Past
-
ekedsimple
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had ekedperfect
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was ekingprogressive
-
were ekingprogressive
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had been ekingperfect progressive
Future
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The company still caters to budget buyers with a line of subcompact SUVs, but builds them in South Korea where the company is able to eke out a profit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
At once straight-faced, sacrilegious and scatological, “Team America” needed nine tries to eke past the MPAA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
I still think Scotland will eke out the win, but how will Steve Clarke go about it?
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
The economy should eke out a 1.5% growth rate in the first quarter, but will start the April-June quarter “on really bad footing.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 28, 2026
They shot rabbits and peeled bark for soup to eke out their scarce provisions.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Oumar Cisse used to lead tours of Djenne, an ancient, fabled city in central Mali known for its towering mud-brick mosque, but he now ekes out a living driving an old motorcycle taxi in Bamako.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
She ekes out a living crocheting bags and clothing, earning less than $10 a week, and relies on food donations from the parallel civilian government.
From Reuters ● Jan. 31, 2023
Bird’s father, Ethan, is a white former linguistics professor who ekes out an existence shelving books in the college library.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
That he does before surrendering to his psychological flaw: his inability to be content with whatever success he ekes out.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2022
He ekes out the lameness of the verse in the former, and breaks the force of the passion in both.
From Lectures on the English Poets Delivered at the Surrey Institution by Alfred Rayney Waller
The Dodgers eked across a run in the third inning on a Freddie Freeman groundout with runners on second and third.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
The millennial sex therapist eked out a narrow win in the Democratic primary election in March and will advance to a runoff with the second-place finisher, sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia, on Tuesday.
From Slate ● May 22, 2026
The Hangzhou-based company eked out adjusted net profit of 86 million yuan, equivalent to $12.7 million, in the three months ended March, down sharply from 29.85 billion yuan a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
The S&P 500 eked out a 0.1% gain today and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%—small but mighty gains considering both indexes closed at record highs.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
She eked out the words as if squeezing dregs from a squashed tube of stale toothpaste.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
He was ultimately the only plausible option for voters worried that Hong’s controversies risked blowing the general election and ended up eking it out by less than half a percentage point.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
The solution, says Samaras: Use artificial intelligence to reroute power for maximum efficiency, eking out extra performance to avoid blackouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Staff at Softstar Shoes in Oregon have discovered a newfound enthusiasm for eking out resources and growing profits.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Hoan worked from the same slab of concrete for a decade, eking out a modest living hawking colourful bouquets.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
He was methodically capable of eking out a win from a seemingly hopeless and delicate position.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
