get by

verb

1. to pass; go past or overtake

2. informal,  (intr, adverb) to manage, esp in spite of difficulties

   I can get by with little money

3. (intr) to be accepted or permitted

   that book will never get by the authorities

Idioms and Phrases

Move past, as in There isn't room for this car to get by .

Manage to succeed or get along; also, barely succeed. For example, He's getting by even though he only works half-time , or If he applied himself, Paul could be getting A's, but instead he's just getting by . [Early 1900s]

Be unnoticed; also, get approval or pass inspection. For example, I wonder if these errors will get by the proofreader , or He hoped the paint job would get by . [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

She has since sold off her gold bit by bit to get by.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It's lost customers during the week and it doesn't get orders to deliver to the gates of the steelworks, but changes mean the business is still getting by.

Read more on BBC

“I would have done the family piece first, which is affordable childcare, paid leave, extension of the child tax credit,” she said, basic issues facing Americans who “need to just get by today.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Ms Hurst said this has had "a huge impact" on her financially, costing her in lost interest and forcing her to pull money from other places to get by.

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"It's hard enough as it is to survive because of the price of animal feed and fuel – every day it's more difficult for farmers to get by," he says.

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Related Words

• cope 
• get along 
• get on 
• prosper 
• subsist 
• thrive