eke out

Verb

• obtain with difficulty
  • He eked out some information from the archives
    

• make by laborious and precarious means
  • He eked out a living as a painter
    

• live from day to day, as with some hardship
  • He eked out his years in great poverty
    

• supplement what is thought to be deficient
  • He eked out his meager pay by giving private lessons
    
  • Braque eked out his collages with charcoal
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  squeeze out , fill out