Eke
verb
To make something last longer or exist with more difficulty.
He's trying to eke out his unemployment benefits as long as possible.
Often appears as...
- eke out a living
- eke out an existence
verb
To increase or add to, often with a lot of effort.
He eked his income by doing part-time jobs.
Often appears as...
- eke out an income
- eke out resources
verb
To make something last longer or exist with more difficulty.
He's trying to eke out his unemployment benefits as long as possible.
Often appears as...
- eke out a living
- eke out an existence
verb
To increase or add to, often with a lot of effort.
He eked his income by doing part-time jobs.
Often appears as...
- eke out an income
- eke out resources
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Scarcity Implication
Using 'eke' implies a struggle due to scarce resources or difficult conditions.
She managed to eke a meal from the almost empty fridge.
Pro Tip 2/3Grudging Improvement
'Eke out' often suggests only a small, hard-fought gain or enhancement.
They eked out another day of food supplies with careful rationing.
Pro Tip 3/3Uphill Effort
'Eke' typically denotes making an effort in the face of adversity.
Despite his injury, he eked out another mile.
Pro Tip 1/3Scarcity Implication
Using 'eke' implies a struggle due to scarce resources or difficult conditions.
She managed to eke a meal from the almost empty fridge.
Pro Tip 2/3Grudging Improvement
'Eke out' often suggests only a small, hard-fought gain or enhancement.
They eked out another day of food supplies with careful rationing.
Pro Tip 3/3Uphill Effort
'Eke' typically denotes making an effort in the face of adversity.
Despite his injury, he eked out another mile.
Pro Tip 1/3Scarcity Implication
Using 'eke' implies a struggle due to scarce resources or difficult conditions.
She managed to eke a meal from the almost empty fridge.
Pro Tip 2/3Grudging Improvement
'Eke out' often suggests only a small, hard-fought gain or enhancement.
They eked out another day of food supplies with careful rationing.
Pro Tip 3/3Uphill Effort
'Eke' typically denotes making an effort in the face of adversity.
Despite his injury, he eked out another mile.
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Video examples
The surprising thing I...
And the more I learned, the more I started to change my own life. I started traveling less, doing less, using less. It felt like actually doing less was what we had to do. But it sat uneasy with me. It didn't feel right. It felt like we were buying ourselves time. We were eking things out a bit longer.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 142 PIPE...
find various kinds of teak trees but I don't think and they'll be related to tea trees as you find in other parts of the world of course we get a tea tree here we get the Transvaal teak tree actually we get two types of teak trees we have the transport eke and we get to
Video examples
Breaking and Entering PIPE...
everything belongs to someone even the rubbish like any outcasts forced to live on the edge of society these monkeys are simply trying to eke out a living snatching food where they can but every time they drop litter curb crawl raid
Video examples
Is the world getting...
As the spiral of recursive improvement gathers momentum, we eke out victories against the forces that grind us down, not least the darker parts of our own nature. We penetrate the mysteries of the cosmos, including life and mind.
Video examples
Anne-Marie Slaughter:...
I tried on the idea of eking out another two years in Washington, or maybe uprooting my sons from their school and my husband from his work and asking them to join me. But deep down, I knew that the right decision was to go home,
Video examples
You are your microbes -...
Deeper in the depths of our gut city, the syntrophs eke out a living off the fermenters' trash. At each step of this process, energy is released, and that energy is absorbed by the cells of the digestive tract.
Video examples
Introducing a New Baby...
this fellow come to eke out their days until they are big and strong enough to take a pod or get into a pod all where old fellows come to retire and spend their dotage in peace in amongst the egyptian geese
Video examples
Windows of the Soul: My...
out basically the UN and all the aid groups left and it was just myself and two other journalists and we slept in an abandoned aid camp UN camp and we just we had to eke out our film I mean this
Video examples
Apes with Tools PIPE...
until now while gorillas were not considered tool users some in captivity have used sticks to eke out a tasty treat but this behavior was never observed in the wild and there was more
Video examples
Ndoki Rain Forest PIPE...
until now while gorillas were not considered tool users some in captivity have used sticks to eke out a tasty treat but this behavior was never observed in the wild and there was more
Video examples
The surprising thing I...
And the more I learned, the more I started to change my own life. I started traveling less, doing less, using less. It felt like actually doing less was what we had to do. But it sat uneasy with me. It didn't feel right. It felt like we were buying ourselves time. We were eking things out a bit longer.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 142 PIPE...
find various kinds of teak trees but I don't think and they'll be related to tea trees as you find in other parts of the world of course we get a tea tree here we get the Transvaal teak tree actually we get two types of teak trees we have the transport eke and we get to
Video examples
Breaking and Entering PIPE...
everything belongs to someone even the rubbish like any outcasts forced to live on the edge of society these monkeys are simply trying to eke out a living snatching food where they can but every time they drop litter curb crawl raid
Video examples
Is the world getting...
As the spiral of recursive improvement gathers momentum, we eke out victories against the forces that grind us down, not least the darker parts of our own nature. We penetrate the mysteries of the cosmos, including life and mind.
Video examples
Anne-Marie Slaughter:...
I tried on the idea of eking out another two years in Washington, or maybe uprooting my sons from their school and my husband from his work and asking them to join me. But deep down, I knew that the right decision was to go home,
Video examples
You are your microbes -...
Deeper in the depths of our gut city, the syntrophs eke out a living off the fermenters' trash. At each step of this process, energy is released, and that energy is absorbed by the cells of the digestive tract.
Video examples
Introducing a New Baby...
this fellow come to eke out their days until they are big and strong enough to take a pod or get into a pod all where old fellows come to retire and spend their dotage in peace in amongst the egyptian geese
Video examples
Windows of the Soul: My...
out basically the UN and all the aid groups left and it was just myself and two other journalists and we slept in an abandoned aid camp UN camp and we just we had to eke out our film I mean this
Video examples
Apes with Tools PIPE...
until now while gorillas were not considered tool users some in captivity have used sticks to eke out a tasty treat but this behavior was never observed in the wild and there was more
Video examples
Ndoki Rain Forest PIPE...
until now while gorillas were not considered tool users some in captivity have used sticks to eke out a tasty treat but this behavior was never observed in the wild and there was more
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
John Densmore
American Musician
Jim had melodies as well as words. He didn't know how to play a chord on any instrument, but he had melodies in his head. To remember the lyrics he would think of melodies and then they would stay in his head. He had melodies and lyrics in his head, and he would sing them a cappella, and we would eke out the arrangements.
Quote examples
Irvine Welsh
Scottish Novelist
I left Edinburgh to follow the London punk scene in 1978, singing and playing guitar in various bands. My income was sporadic, so I did anything to eke out some kind of subsistence - laying down slabs, working as a kitchen porter.
Quote examples
Elliott Abrams
American Lawyer
Sometimes the results of a first free election will find the moderates so poorly organized that extreme groups can eke out a victory, as Hamas did when it gained a 44-to-41 percent margin in the Palestinian election of 2006.
Quote examples
Viola Davis
American Actress
I'm the journeyman actor that you saw in one scene here, two scenes there. I've been eking out a living doing theater - Broadway, Off Broadway - film supporting roles, that I'm just excited to be a part of the conversation.
Quote examples
Dawn Foster
British Journalist
Cooking requires time, effort and fuel: increasing numbers of people I've visited can't even afford to turn on the kettle for a cup of tea as they eke out every penny to feed their extortionate gas and electric meters.
Quote examples
Jeff Nichols
American Director
We have so many films that we can fit into the slate a year, and we spend $100 million on those films in order to make $400 million dollars. We don't spend $20 million in hopes of eking out $40 million.
Quote examples
Linda Grant
British Novelist
Times were very hard if you were a poor, politically correct Jewish girl living in the east end of London during the Blitz and you were trying to eke out a living as a hairdresser.
Quote examples
Devin Townsend
Canadian Musician
For me, music is a byproduct of this process - the human process - and the fact that I've managed to eke out a career with it is a happy accident more than any strategy.
Quote examples
Rufus Wainwright
Canadian Musician
I have managed to eke out a good and substantial existence. I'm not shoveling gold bricks or anything, but I do very, very well.
Quote examples
Miguel Ferrer
American Actor
The first several years I was an actor, I sort of eked out a living playing thugs almost exclusively until 'Robocop.
Quote examples
John Densmore
American Musician
Jim had melodies as well as words. He didn't know how to play a chord on any instrument, but he had melodies in his head. To remember the lyrics he would think of melodies and then they would stay in his head. He had melodies and lyrics in his head, and he would sing them a cappella, and we would eke out the arrangements.
Quote examples
Irvine Welsh
Scottish Novelist
I left Edinburgh to follow the London punk scene in 1978, singing and playing guitar in various bands. My income was sporadic, so I did anything to eke out some kind of subsistence - laying down slabs, working as a kitchen porter.
Quote examples
Elliott Abrams
American Lawyer
Sometimes the results of a first free election will find the moderates so poorly organized that extreme groups can eke out a victory, as Hamas did when it gained a 44-to-41 percent margin in the Palestinian election of 2006.
Quote examples
Viola Davis
American Actress
I'm the journeyman actor that you saw in one scene here, two scenes there. I've been eking out a living doing theater - Broadway, Off Broadway - film supporting roles, that I'm just excited to be a part of the conversation.
Quote examples
Dawn Foster
British Journalist
Cooking requires time, effort and fuel: increasing numbers of people I've visited can't even afford to turn on the kettle for a cup of tea as they eke out every penny to feed their extortionate gas and electric meters.
Quote examples
Jeff Nichols
American Director
We have so many films that we can fit into the slate a year, and we spend $100 million on those films in order to make $400 million dollars. We don't spend $20 million in hopes of eking out $40 million.
Quote examples
Linda Grant
British Novelist
Times were very hard if you were a poor, politically correct Jewish girl living in the east end of London during the Blitz and you were trying to eke out a living as a hairdresser.
Quote examples
Devin Townsend
Canadian Musician
For me, music is a byproduct of this process - the human process - and the fact that I've managed to eke out a career with it is a happy accident more than any strategy.
Quote examples
Rufus Wainwright
Canadian Musician
I have managed to eke out a good and substantial existence. I'm not shoveling gold bricks or anything, but I do very, very well.
Quote examples
Miguel Ferrer
American Actor
The first several years I was an actor, I sort of eked out a living playing thugs almost exclusively until 'Robocop.
Example 1 of 10
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