scrape by
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dyslexic, Harry dropped out of school in the ninth grade, joined the Navy, and served two weeks’ military imprisonment before returning to New York City to work odd jobs and scrape by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
To scrape by, he has turned to selling off his possessions on an internet auction site and accepting a loan from a friend.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
James was a stalwart patriarch of a working-class family on the Chicago's South Side struggling to scrape by, earning what he could by juggling part-time work.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2024
You can’t just scrape by on almost nothing and hope it works out at the end of the month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
But once she understood there was no turning back, our mother went to laying out in the spare bedroom all the worldly things she thought we’d need in the Congo just to scrape by.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
