scrape by

phrasal verb

scraped by; scraping by; scrapes by

1

: to live with barely enough money : to be able to buy only the things most needed

Money was tight, but we somehow managed to scrape by.

2

: to succeed at doing something but just barely

He didn't study for the exam and just barely scraped by.

Examples of scrape by in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the Eaton burn scar, in the areas scraped by federal cleanup crews, around 27% of the Roux soil samples still had lead levels above California’s state standards for residential properties (80 milligram per kilogram). —Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2025

Fans will accept a longer-term strategy with hope for the future vs. mediocrity in scraping by into the playoffs year after year. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2025

The Better Sister This adaptation of Alafair Burke’s novel follows two sisters, one who is seemingly living a perfect life (Jessica Biel) and the other who is in recovery and barely scraping by (Elizabeth Banks). —Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 2 June 2025

Behind many crises that boil over as addiction, depression, or violence are months of scraping by, running from food pantries to housing court, cramming into shelter, waiting on treatment and going without. —Nora McCarthy, New York Daily News, 18 May 2025

Rhymes for scrape by

• abscissae
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi
• certify