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

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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 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 Herbst chided Williams for having four assistant city managers when prior city managers got by with two. — Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 6 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
  • She’s coped in life by using other people to take care of her in many different ways.
    — Eric Thomas, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2026
  • Belgium’s midfield coped despite playing without both Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans, who was lost to injury in pregame warm-ups.
    — Paul Tenorio, New York Times, 11 July 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
  • To help build that picture, Heinzerling and team got on court with Nadal, with camera operators dodging tennis balls and sliding and capturing moments of Nadal with his young son and wife at home.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Chicago got on the board in the first with a sacrifice fly by Michael Conforto that scored Busch.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of got on
Verb
  • Frawley and Vance were better known as Fred and Ethel to millions of fans — and infamously never quite got along.
    — Rance Collins, Entertainment Weekly, 30 July 2026
  • McGonigle, DeBarberie said, was the type of kid who got along with all sorts of crowds.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 6 July 2026
Definition of got along
Verb
  • Each step might hit a different model on different hardware managed by a different team.
    — Srikanta Datta, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The Pats have managed his reps in an attempt to keep him healthy.
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of managed
Verb
  • The measure survived; the trade did not, and the same transfer is now happening to institutional knowledge inside AI systems.
    — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Torres, who was sitting in the passenger seat and closest to the gunfire, survived but was shot multiple times, according to KTVB.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of survived
Verb
  • While her actual dress featured puffy sleeves rendered in ivory silk taffeta, the backup dress had slimmer sleeves and was made out of white silk.
    — Emma Banks, PEOPLE, 1 Aug. 2026
  • There was a check made out to Marc Summers for the grand total of 50 bucks.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of made out

Browse Nearby Words

got back (at)
got by
gotcha
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Cite this Entry

“Got by.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/got%20by. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

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