verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
scrape out/scratch out/eke out a living (= to barely earn enough money to live )
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The farmers in these drought-stricken areas are barely able to scratch out a living.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
out
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But I restrained the impulse, for it is as well to eke out such tokens of our goodwill as we possess.
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I was tired of eking out an existence near poverty level on my meager assistantship.
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Most people still live in the hinterlands of the inhabited islands eking out a living, but poverty abounds.
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Few had any special skills; they worked as casual laborers, eking out a marginal existence, often reduced to begging.
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Finally came the bookshop where dear Mr Sneddles tried to eke out a living.
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She continued to eke out a living based on the fading memories of her famous plunge.
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I pictured her trying to eke out her money - for I was sure there was not much.
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Sip your drink, don't gulp it. Eke out the little pleasures.
■ NOUN
existence
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The river banks were frequently lined with curious onlookers who struggle to eke out an existence in this harsh environment.
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I was tired of eking out an existence near poverty level on my meager assistantship.
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Again, the choice was between following the work to the factory towns or eking out an existence by labouring.
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Few had any special skills; they worked as casual laborers, eking out a marginal existence , often reduced to begging.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Again, the choice was between following the work to the factory towns or eking out an existence by labouring.
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But I restrained the impulse, for it is as well to eke out such tokens of our goodwill as we possess.
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Few had any special skills; they worked as casual laborers, eking out a marginal existence, often reduced to begging.
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Finally came the bookshop where dear Mr Sneddles tried to eke out a living.
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I was tired of eking out an existence near poverty level on my meager assistantship.
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Most of them eke out a living as subsistence farmers.
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Most people still live in the hinterlands of the inhabited islands eking out a living, but poverty abounds.
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She continued to eke out a living based on the fading memories of her famous plunge.