eke out

Verb

eke out (third-person singular simple present ekes out, present participle eking out, simple past and past participle eked out)

1. (transitive) To supplement.
   • The old man eked out his pension by selling vegetables from his garden.
   • Now the reaſons why they teach the calves to drink ſo ſoon are various. [...] Secondly, the goodwife ſaves milk by this way of drinking, for ſhe quickly ekes out the milk with pottage, &c.1694 October 7, “A Letter from a Lancashire Friend about Breeding Cattle. […]”, in Richard Bradley, editor, compiled by John Houghton, Husbandry and Trade Improv’d: Being a Collection of Many...
2. (transitive) To obtain with difficulty or effort.
   • Near-synonym: squeeze out
   • He eked out a living selling vegetables from his garden.

   Synonyms:

   squeeze out