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

Los Angeles scraped by in the playoffs thanks to a historically dominant starting rotation — and by using those starters as relievers. —Shaun McAvoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2025

While the additional dollars are welcome, tribal leaders say the deeper issue is the volatility itself, and the fact that even doubling funding still leaves many TCUs scraping by. —Ana Pelayo Connery, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025

While lower-income households are struggling to scrape by, middle- and higher-income households are on firmer financial footing, buoyed by stronger wage growth. —Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025

While many minority health research projects have seen their grants terminated, others managed to scrape by with funding intact. —Surina Venkat, The Hill, 8 Nov. 2025

Rhymes for scrape by

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