hand-to-mouth
adjective
ˈhan(d)-tə-ˈmau̇th 
ˈhan-də-
: having or providing nothing to spare beyond basic necessities
a hand-to-mouth existence
hand to mouth
adverb
Synonyms
Examples of hand-to-mouth in a Sentence
survived on a hand-to-mouth income that came from any odd job that he could find
Recent Examples on the Web
The motive can range from adolescent rebellion to adult thrill-seeking to hand-to-mouth poverty.
—
Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
Inside the Billion-Dollar Effort to Clean Up the Seine
While many athletes live hand-to-mouth, the IOC enjoys an opulent existence.
—Jules Boykoff, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
My dad lived very hand-to-mouth, and my mum used to buy a lot through catalogues and got herself into some bad debt.
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 8 May 2024
The casting Ripley begins with Tom living hand-to-mouth in New York City through small cons until he’s hired to convince wayward shipbuilding heir Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to leave his extended Italian holiday painting mediocre still lifes and return home to his frustrated family.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 6 June 2024
Tom, a single man, lives a hand-to-mouth existence in New York with a male roommate who is, ahem, a window dresser.
—Mark Harris, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2024
Since then, the World Service has been financed on a hand-to-mouth basis through occasional installments of state funding.
—Simon J. Potter, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2023
Lamb entered April with $254,000 and $117,000 in debt, a hand-to-mouth status that has made television advertising an impossibility to this point.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 13 May 2024
The think tank behind the study warns slow repayments, which AB InBev insists only affect its larger suppliers, are likely having a major impact on small businesses living hand-to-mouth and reliant on cash from multibillion-dollar companies.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 12 Mar. 2024
Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
Inside the Billion-Dollar Effort to Clean Up the Seine
While many athletes live hand-to-mouth, the IOC enjoys an opulent existence.
—Jules Boykoff, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
My dad lived very hand-to-mouth, and my mum used to buy a lot through catalogues and got herself into some bad debt.
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 8 May 2024
The casting Ripley begins with Tom living hand-to-mouth in New York City through small cons until he’s hired to convince wayward shipbuilding heir Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to leave his extended Italian holiday painting mediocre still lifes and return home to his frustrated family.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 6 June 2024
Tom, a single man, lives a hand-to-mouth existence in New York with a male roommate who is, ahem, a window dresser.
—Mark Harris, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2024
Since then, the World Service has been financed on a hand-to-mouth basis through occasional installments of state funding.
—Simon J. Potter, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2023
Lamb entered April with $254,000 and $117,000 in debt, a hand-to-mouth status that has made television advertising an impossibility to this point.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 13 May 2024
The think tank behind the study warns slow repayments, which AB InBev insists only affect its larger suppliers, are likely having a major impact on small businesses living hand-to-mouth and reliant on cash from multibillion-dollar companies.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 12 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hand-to-mouth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hand-to-mouth
Cite this Entry
“Hand-to-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand-to-mouth. Accessed 13 Sep. 2024.
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