get by

verb

got by; got by or gotten by; getting by; gets by

intransitive verb

1

: to succeed with the least possible effort or accomplishment

2

: to make ends meet : survive

3

: to proceed without being discovered, criticized, or punished

Synonyms

• cope
• do
• fare
• get along
• get on
• make out
• manage
• shift

Examples of get by in a Sentence

working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely

Recent Examples on the Web

Smaller homes and apartments can generally get by with a simpler system. —Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 1 Nov. 2024

But Owen let the ball get by him, and before the third out was recorded Casey had given up a single, two doubles, and two walks — and four runs as Brooklyn went on to lose its third game. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2024

Most high school students and humanities majors can get by with the same, too, but again: anything less than 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage is not ideal, especially in the long term. —Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge, 30 Oct. 2024

Any decent burlesque comedy sketch nurse could’ve gotten by with it. —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

get by

verb

1

: to make ends meet : manage

2

: to succeed with the least possible effort or accomplishment