eke

1 of 2

adverb

ˈēk 

archaic

: also

eke

2 of 2

verb

eked; eking

transitive verb

1

archaic : increase, lengthen

2

: to get with great difficulty

—usually used with out

eke out a living

Synonyms

Verb

• earn
• obtain

Examples of eke in a Sentence

Verb

eked out a living from the family's small farm

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

During the war, Gaza’s hospitals have eked back services, only to be repeatedly struck or besieged again. —Tavleen Tarrant, NBC news, 14 June 2025

Pavement’s early music was scratchy and eccentric, built on guitars that gnawed and eked their way through songs. —Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 19 May 2025

Even eight-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel raised eyebrows on Thursday morning, eking through to the semifinals of the 50-meter freestyle as the 13th qualifier (for 16 spots). —Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic, 1 Aug. 2024

Western analysts have raised concerns that this activity could eke away at the U.S. military's position in the Pacific, given Beijing's policy of military-civil fusion that enables the People's Liberation Army to co-opt these dual-use facilities. —Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

Middle English, from Old English ēac; akin to Old High German ouh also, Latin aut or, Greek au again

Verb

Middle English echen, (northern and east Midlands) eken "to increase, extend, add, improve," going back to Old English īcan, gīcan, ȳcan, geȳcan, (Anglian) geēcan "to increase, add to, enhance," weak-verb derivative from Germanic *aukan- "to increase" (class VII strong verb), whence Old English ēacen, ēcen (past participle) "increased, endowed with excellent qualities, mighty," Old Frisian āka "to increase," Old Saxon ōkan "to make pregnant," Old High German zuoouhhan "to add," Old Icelandic auka "to increase, add to, surpass," Gothic aukan "to increase" (intransitive); Germanic *aukan- going back to a present stem from the Indo-European verbal base *h₂eu̯g- "grow, increase," whence also, with other formations, Lithuanian áugu, áugti "to grow," Latin augēō, augēre, perfect auxī "to increase, make greater, heighten"

Note: Regarding the most likely related Indo-European base *h₂u̯eks- see the note at wax entry 3.

First Known Use

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing eke

• eke out

Rhymes for eke

• beak
• beek
• bleak
• cheek
• chic
• clique
• creak
• creek
• freak
• geek
• greek
• leak