squeak by

Idioms  

1. Also, squeak through. Manage barely to pass, win, survive, or the like, as in They are just squeaking by on their income, or He squeaked through the driver's test. This idiom transfers squeak in the sense of “barely emit a sound” to “narrowly manage something.” [First half of 1900s] Also see squeeze through.

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Example Sentences

They embraced risk and played to win big rather than striving not to offend and hoping to squeak by.

From Salon

So far she’s squeaked by with money borrowed from her employer.

From Los Angeles Times

But after the March 5 election, it took 15 days of tallying mail-in ballots for The Associated Press to determine that the measure had squeaked by.

From New York Times

Auston Matthews scored 2:12 into overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night, squeaking by after taking 57 shots on goal.

From Los Angeles Times

The Seahawks recovered from a blowout loss against the Ravens by … needing to put together two go-ahead drives in the final five minutes to squeak by Washington in Week 10.

From Seattle Times