get by
verb
got by; got by or gotten by; getting by; gets by
1
: to succeed with the least possible effort or accomplishment
2
: to make ends meet : survive
3
: to proceed without being discovered, criticized, or punished
Synonyms
Examples of get by in a Sentence
working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely
Recent Examples on the Web
Scraping to get by, many single ladies don’t have enough for an emergency, at 29% compared to 20% of partnered women.
—
Chloe Berger, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024
For decades, childcare had been expensive and hard to get, but the pandemic wreaked havoc on an industry that was already barely getting by.
—Katherine Goldstein, TIME, 18 Apr. 2024
Before breaking out on The Wire, Elba had a lot of odd jobs to get by, including selling weed.
—EW.com, 18 Apr. 2024
But the reward of bitcoin that miners get by finding the solution periodically gets cut in half.
—Rafael Nam, NPR, 16 Apr. 2024
Advertisement Stronghold, the Sunland Derby winner, showed a determination to get by Imagination and Dettori.
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2024
Weatherly gets by on $1,200 a month in Social Security.
—Jeanne Whalen, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
Every dollar that is spent by Lincoln County government was gotten by taxing our citizens.
—Charlotte Observer, 29 Feb. 2024
Many real estate agents already were struggling to get by in a housing market plagued by high prices and low inventory.
—Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
Chloe Berger, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024
For decades, childcare had been expensive and hard to get, but the pandemic wreaked havoc on an industry that was already barely getting by.
—Katherine Goldstein, TIME, 18 Apr. 2024
Before breaking out on The Wire, Elba had a lot of odd jobs to get by, including selling weed.
—EW.com, 18 Apr. 2024
But the reward of bitcoin that miners get by finding the solution periodically gets cut in half.
—Rafael Nam, NPR, 16 Apr. 2024
Advertisement Stronghold, the Sunland Derby winner, showed a determination to get by Imagination and Dettori.
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2024
Weatherly gets by on $1,200 a month in Social Security.
—Jeanne Whalen, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
Every dollar that is spent by Lincoln County government was gotten by taxing our citizens.
—Charlotte Observer, 29 Feb. 2024
Many real estate agents already were struggling to get by in a housing market plagued by high prices and low inventory.
—Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'get by.' 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 get by
Cite this Entry
“Get by.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20by. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
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