eke out

verb

eked out; eking out; ekes out

transitive verb

1

: to make up for the deficiencies of : supplement

eked out his income by getting a second job

2

: to make (a supply) last by economy

Examples of eke out in a Sentence

eked out a living from the family's small farm

Recent Examples on the Web

The Lakers eked out a great win thanks to, of course, James: Just to recap: Arguably the greatest basketball player to ever live spent his Wednesday accelerating his feud with one ESPN personality via another one’s show, on ESPN airwaves, before adding a game winner to his resume. —Chris Branch, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025

Max’s The White Lotus eked out a spot at No. 9 on the overall chart with 807M minutes viewed. —Katie Campione, Deadline, 27 Mar. 2025

Sanders had begun the tour in late February, starting with stops in Midwestern congressional districts where Republicans had eked out narrow majorities. —Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2025

His comments come as the S & P 500 eked out a gain heading into the market’s close on Friday, averting a fifth straight week of losses. —Brian Evans, CNBC, 21 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for eke out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout

Kids Definition

eke out

verb

ˈēk-

1

a

: supplement entry 2

eked out their small income by working for neighbors

b

: to make (a supply) last by careful use

2

: to get with great difficulty

eked out a living from the poor soil of the family's farm