hand-to-mouth

American

[hand-tuh-mouth] / ˈhænd təˈmaʊθ /

adjective

offering or providing the barest livelihood, sustenance, or support; meager; precarious.

a hand-to-mouth existence.

hand-to-mouth British

adjective

with barely enough money or food to satisfy immediate needs

a hand-to-mouth existence

"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

Etymology

Origin of hand-to-mouth

First recorded in 1500–10

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.

Many are migrant workers, living hand-to-mouth in cramped housing on the city's outskirts.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

The challenges of hand-to-mouth were not at all theoretical.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025

I have always lived hand-to-mouth, and live in a very small mountain town.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 21, 2025

She noted that “younger kids are at higher risk because they have more hand-to-mouth behavior.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2025

These sons of the gay science were notoriously careless of their means of livelihood, and lived a hand-to-mouth existence.

From Legends & Romances of Spain by Spence, Lewis

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