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eke out

phrasal verb

Formsekes out, eking out, eked out

2 meanings of eke out

Practice

  1. 1
    phrasal verbtransitive
    To get something with a lot of difficulty or hard work.

    Many families in the village eke out a living by fishing.

    Our team eked out a win in the last minute.

    Similarscrape

    Note
  2. 2
    phrasal verbtransitive
    To add to something, like money or food, when there is not enough of it.

    She takes weekend babysitting jobs to eke out her small salary.

    Grandma eked out the soup with extra potatoes so everyone could eat.

    Similarsupplement, stretch, augment

    Note

Practice

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Origin

From an old verb eke, meaning “to add to”, plus out.