Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

get by

verb

Definition of get by

  1. intransitive verb

  2. 1 :  to succeed with the least possible effort or accomplishment

  3. 2 :  to make ends meet :  survive

  4. 3 :  to proceed without being discovered, criticized, or punished

See get by defined for kids

Explore M-W

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz
payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?
supreme-court-at-dusk
Trending: SCOTUS: 'Bona Fide' relationships
alt-5953d7f904965
'Patriot' Hasn't Always Been Positive

Examples of get by in a Sentence

  1. working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely

First Known Use of get by

1841

get by Synonyms

Synonyms
cope, do, fare, get along, get on, make out, manage, shift
Related Words
carry on, contrive, scrape (by or through), scrounge; last, survive; eke out, scrape (out), squeeze, wrest, wring; afford, swing
Near Antonyms
collapse, fail, fall short, fizzle, flounder; decline, peter (out), slump, wane; give up

Learn More about get by

  1. See words that rhyme with get by Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for get by Nglish: Translation of get by for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of get by for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up get by? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

culminate

play

to reach the highest or a decisive point

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. bona fide Made in good faith

  2. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

  3. zealot A fanatical partisan

  4. stonewall to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive

  5. scurrilous Containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

get by

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
  • Which is a synonym of garner?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-5953d7f904965
'Patriot' Hasn't Always Been Positive

The word has roots in a religious rivalry

alt-5949565fc7d94
'Negging' Moves Beyond The Bar

Not just for pick-up artists anymore

alt-5947fc40f1b5c
In Tech, What Does 'K' Mean?

A buzzword with a long history.

alt-5951697e1a410
When To Use 'Specious' vs. 'Spurious'

These similar words are not interchangeable

Ask the Editors

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz
alt-5941ad7527c3c
Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game
Examples: get by in a Sentence