scrape by

phrasal verb

scraped by; scraping by; scrapes by

: 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.

: 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

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Above, some of the planet’s poorest people scrape by. —

Stuart A. Reid, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2017 Facing a long road to recovery after Hurricane Helene, Asheville musicians fret about scraping by until crowds can come back. —

Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 16 Oct. 2024 Aldo has been forced to leave behind his home, his wife, and his newborn son to scrape by with low-paying jobs in Turin. —

Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 30 Aug. 2024 The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has just fallen short of clinching its second state victory in a month, with the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) scraping by on a few points. —

Frey Lindsay, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for scrape by