as in to cope
to meet one's day-to-day needs
working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely
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Recent Examples of get by
The former mining equipment operator and truck driver now gets by on a few hours a week as a security guard.
—
Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Mar. 2025
The film follows an Anna Wintour-like fashion media mogul (Meryl Streep) who tests the grit of a plucky young assistant (Anne Hathaway), who gets by with a little help from friends like Nigel, the fictional magazine's witty art director.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2025
The bad Santas take Sherry as a hostage, though, and use her as a human shield to get by the cops who’ve arrived on the scene.
—Mark Meszoros, Twin Cities, 14 Mar. 2025
Kentucky is the 17th ranked team in the nation, and will look to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a deep run through the SEC Tournament, but will have to get by an Oklahoma team that has their backs against the wall.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for get by
Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Mar. 2025
The film follows an Anna Wintour-like fashion media mogul (Meryl Streep) who tests the grit of a plucky young assistant (Anne Hathaway), who gets by with a little help from friends like Nigel, the fictional magazine's witty art director.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2025
The bad Santas take Sherry as a hostage, though, and use her as a human shield to get by the cops who’ve arrived on the scene.
—Mark Meszoros, Twin Cities, 14 Mar. 2025
Kentucky is the 17th ranked team in the nation, and will look to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a deep run through the SEC Tournament, but will have to get by an Oklahoma team that has their backs against the wall.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for get by
Recent Examples of Synonyms for get by
Verb
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What is grief if not living in the liminal space between mourning and coping, of life and death itself?—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
27 Mar. 2025
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The class encompasses information about exercises to prepare the mother for birth, relaxation and coping techniques, pain control options, labor positioning, induction and C-section basics, recovery and welcoming baby.—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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This was the best of both creative stimulating worlds, essentially doing a play on screen.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
23 Mar. 2025
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And when we were done talking about that, I was spun out, he was spun out.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
23 Mar. 2025
Verb
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After Uncle Sam got on the motorcycle, as previously seen on every night of both residencies, there was an edit, and then a cut right to the skeletal avatar driving around a neon cartoon rendering of the streets of Las Vegas.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
22 Mar. 2025
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Officers then found him at the apartment’s leasing office, but Savage allegedly did not listen to orders to get on the ground.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee,
Kansas City Star,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Sources say the actresses got along well during production, and things only got awkward during the run-up to release.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2025
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Amazing how well business people get along with one another!—
Brendan Ahern,
Forbes,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The dispatchers managed to keep the caller and her brother calm while directing firefighters to a streetcorner that had easy access to the wooded area for one fire company to walk in through.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
19 Mar. 2025
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Young manages it all with a maturity beyond her years.—
Audra Heinrichs,
Rolling Stone,
19 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Get by.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/get%20by. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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