eke out

verb

eked out; eking out; ekes out

transitive verb

1

: to make up for the deficiencies of : supplement

eked out his income by getting a second job

2

: to make (a supply) last by economy

Examples of eke out in a Sentence

eked out a living from the family's small farm

Recent Examples on the Web

The race leaders after the last turn of the last lap — Gio Ruggiero and Christian Eckes, specifically — all tried to go to the high side in last few feet of racetrack, and Smith took advantage and eked out the victory on the inside. —Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 14 Feb. 2026

As of Friday's close, the Invesco S & P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) is up more than 6% this year, while the market cap benchmark has eked out a slight gain. —Sarah Min, CNBC, 13 Feb. 2026

Croke has also secured a number of key endorsements, including from the Cook County Democratic Party, though by a paper-thin margin, eking out the organization’s endorsement last year by just 95 votes out of a weighted vote total of 549,705. —Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026

And the narrative is eking out slowly, defying the notion that contemporary scandals are contained within brief news cycles. —Ben Smith, semafor.com, 9 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for eke out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout

Kids Definition

eke out

verb

ˈēk-

1

a

: supplement entry 2

eked out their small income by working for neighbors

b

: to make (a supply) last by careful use

2

: to get with great difficulty

eked out a living from the poor soil of the family's farm