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

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

From MarketWatch • Mar. 16, 2026

They worked dead-end jobs to make ends meet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

He would tell of working as a captain on a fishing boat to make ends meet.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

Households struggling to make ends meet have fallen behind on energy payments, leading to a collective debt to suppliers of well over £4bn.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

To help make ends meet, Granny rented out part of her lodgings to immigrant workers whose permits to live in Alexandra had expired and who were facing deportation orders.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

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