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

Inflation, healthcare costs and low or no savings are pushing many retirees to go back to work, even part time in low-paying jobs, to make ends meet.

From MarketWatch

“We love to do what we do on farms — keeping people fed, clothed and moving. But we have to be able to make ends meet so we can keep operating.”

From MarketWatch

When her Sevens contract was scrapped in 2020 as part of Covid cost-cutting measures, Jones worked as a delivery driver to make ends meet.

From BBC

In Kolding, 42-year-old Afghan Wahida Abdul Mutaleb admitted she's struggling to make ends meet.

From Barron's

The prospect of higher Medicare Part B premiums comes as many older adults already struggle to make ends meet.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

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