Translation guide
To barely manage to survive or make ends meet, often through difficult or meager means.
He ekes out a living on his pension.
Literally 'a life of barely eating', this vividly describes a hand-to-mouth existence.
They are eking out a living, barely scraping by.
A literary expression meaning 'to barely keep the wolf from the door'.
He ekes out a living by doing day labor.
Describing how someone manages to survive by doing a particular job or activity, often with limited resources.
A standard pattern meaning 'to make a living by/through ~'. The nuance of 'eking out' comes from the context of the means being meager.
She ekes out a living by growing vegetables in a small field.
Means 'to keep oneself fed by ~', implying a struggle to survive.
He ekes out a living with part-time jobs.
Combines 'living modestly' with a specific activity, emphasizing the meager nature of the livelihood.
Focusing on the difficulty of covering basic expenses.
生計を立てる is a neutral expression for 'making a living', while 食いつなぐ emphasizes the struggle to just get by, closer to 'eking out'. Use 食いつなぐ when the means are precarious or barely sufficient.
He makes a living as a translator. (neutral)
He ekes out a living with day labor. (struggling)
There is no direct Japanese verb for 'eke out'. Avoid trying to translate it word-for-word. Instead, use phrases that convey the idea of barely managing or struggling to survive.
He ekes out a living making charcoal deep in the mountains.
Our income has dropped and we're barely eking out a living.