scrape by
phrasal verb
scraped by; scraping by; scrapes by
1
: 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.
2
: 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
But young actor Ji-young Yoo, who plays Mercy, a Korean American scraping by in Hong Kong, was purposefully kept away from the Australian star until just before their first big scene at a night market bustling with 300 extras.
—
Margy Rochlin, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2024
But as many South Africans continue to scrape by, voters have become disenchanted.
—John Eligon Prentice Onayemi Anna Diamond Devin Murphy, New York Times, 21 May 2024
The family scraped by on their payment plans, retiring the medical debt within a year, with help from Crivilare's side job selling resources for teachers online.
—Noam Levey, NPR, 9 May 2024
Following her sister’s disappearance, Jax and Roki have been scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma, according to the film’s description.
—Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 May 2024
Tom is a small-time scammer scraping by in early-1960s New York City when he’s summoned to meet with Herbert Greenleaf (Manchester by the Sea filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan), a shipping magnate whose son Richard has been living in Italy on a trust fund.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
California's Proposition 1 scraped by with barely more than 50% of the vote in a heavily Democratic state.
—USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024
Dalton is barely scraping by on the reputation that still precedes him, when he is spotted by Frankie (Jessica Williams), owner of a roadhouse in the Florida Keys.
—Tim Chan, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2024
The Longhorns received three first-place votes and the Seminoles got one.
After scraping by South Florida on Saturday, Alabama (2-1) saw its streak of consecutive AP poll appearances ranked in the top 10 snapped at 128.
—Ralph D. Russo, Chicago Tribune, 17 Sep. 2023
Margy Rochlin, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2024
But as many South Africans continue to scrape by, voters have become disenchanted.
—John Eligon Prentice Onayemi Anna Diamond Devin Murphy, New York Times, 21 May 2024
The family scraped by on their payment plans, retiring the medical debt within a year, with help from Crivilare's side job selling resources for teachers online.
—Noam Levey, NPR, 9 May 2024
Following her sister’s disappearance, Jax and Roki have been scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma, according to the film’s description.
—Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 May 2024
Tom is a small-time scammer scraping by in early-1960s New York City when he’s summoned to meet with Herbert Greenleaf (Manchester by the Sea filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan), a shipping magnate whose son Richard has been living in Italy on a trust fund.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
California's Proposition 1 scraped by with barely more than 50% of the vote in a heavily Democratic state.
—USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024
Dalton is barely scraping by on the reputation that still precedes him, when he is spotted by Frankie (Jessica Williams), owner of a roadhouse in the Florida Keys.
—Tim Chan, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2024
The Longhorns received three first-place votes and the Seminoles got one.
After scraping by South Florida on Saturday, Alabama (2-1) saw its streak of consecutive AP poll appearances ranked in the top 10 snapped at 128.
—Ralph D. Russo, Chicago Tribune, 17 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scrape by.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Scrape by.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrape%20by. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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