1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

got by

verb

past tense of get by
as in coped
to meet one's day-to-day needs working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of got by Almirón got by Sporting Kansas City defender Moisés Mosquera with several stop-and-go moves before serving a precise pass to Tomás Jacob for a score in the 13th minute. — Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 24 Aug. 2026 His single mom, Laura, got by with assistance from the local church and benevolent relatives, including one who bought Warner football cleats. — Dan Pompei, New York Times, 21 July 2026 Cape Verde gave the defending champions a major scare on Friday, forcing extra time before Argentina got by via a late own goal in an epic Round of 32 confrontation. — Michael Lewis, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026 McCarthy drove a liner to center field that got by the diving Mangum and rolled to the wall. — CBS News, 21 June 2026 Sophia Wilson's shot deflected off Isabela and got by Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena in the 63rd minute for the lone goal before the 55,144 fans in Fortaleza. — ABC News, 9 June 2026 Koeninger ripped a ball to center field that got by a diving Zo Palmore scoring Davis to tie the game again, 7-7. — Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2026 The Last Guest While the Pope couldn’t make it for Colbert’s final show, the host still got by with a little help from a friend. — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026 The previous record was the $36 million Saquon Barkley got by signing with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025. — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for got by
  1. coped
  2. did
  3. got on
  4. got along
  5. managed
  6. survived
  7. made out
Verb
  • Kaia recently opened up about how her family coped with her brother’s addiction struggles in a Vogue interview.
    — Lara Walsh, InStyle, 21 Sep. 2026
  • More recently, consumers have coped with higher gasoline prices and shortages due to Ukrainian drone attacks that knocked out refineries.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of coped
Verb
  • Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, nor did HUD officials.
    — Lizzie Kane, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Wisconsin Republicans did the same last year, and similar efforts have been raised in other states.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
Definition of did
Verb
  • The Sooners got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when Mateer connected with tight end Rocky Beers on a 17-yard touchdown five plays after Stockton threw his first interception of the season.
    — Mike Griffith, AJC.com, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The Montana Grizzlies scored 31 unanswered points Saturday against UC Davis before the Aggies got on the board just before halftime at UC Davis Health Stadium.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of got on
Verb
  • Happily, Yarberry got along well with Doris and her husband, Jon Worrell.
    — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The children were all very close and everyone got along, with their parents remaining amicable even after having divorced, according to Mercer.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of got along
Verb
  • SpaceX managed to salvage the last Starship from the Indian Ocean in July.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Sep. 2026
  • To date, The Tower has managed more than 10,000 group sales leads and helped facilitate millions of dollars in theatrical group sales revenue across multiple film campaigns.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of managed
Verb
  • The structure was built in 1872 (the hotel is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2022) and has survived through floods and epidemics of years past.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Laguna is survived by her daughter, Laura, and her grandchildren, João and Daniel.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of survived
Verb
  • Oregon was stunned by Oklahoma State, just two weeks ago, leading to real questions about whether the Ducks are the Playoff contender they were made out to be.
    — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Plus, it's made out of aluminum for extra durability with long hours of play and accidental drops.
    — George Yang, PC Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of made out

Browse Nearby Words

got back (at)
got by
gotcha
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Got by.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/got%20by. Accessed 30 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of epistemic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All